Firefighters from Forest Grove Fire & Rescue, Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue and several other agencies joined a task force to fight the Golden Fire burning in Oregon’s Klamath County Sunday.
According to Forest Grove Fire & Rescue, their department and TVF&R were joined by Hillsboro Fire & Rescue, Gaston Rural Fire District, Tualatin Valley Fire, Clackamas Fire and Canby Fire District. Forest Grove Fire & Rescue sent a heavy brush rig.
In an email, Oregon Department of Forestry Forest Grove District Forester Mike Cafferata said local ODF crews were heading south as well. “A number of our resources from ODF Forest Grove, Astoria, and Tillamook are supporting this incident,” he wrote.
The Golden Fire, burning just east of Klamath Falls, was last reported to be at about 2,500 acres in size, according to InciWeb, an interagency wildfire mapping and information management system.
The fire is believed to have started sometime on Saturday, with no cause yet known. The fire remains uncontatined as of press time.
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek invoked the state’s Conflagration Act Saturday, making it easier resources from other parts of the state to join the effort to stem the wildfire’s growth.
The fire, threatening homes, has prompted several evacuations, and also severed a telecommunications line between Klamath and Lake County, cutting off high-speed internet and 911 service in Lake County.
A Red Flag Warning was issued for Monday in the area.
This story has been updated with information about local ODF crews supporting the fire.
Chas Hundley is the editor of the Banks Post and sister news publications the Gales Creek Journal and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.
