FIRES SPARK IN HOT WEATHER
September 10, 2007

The thermometer read 98 degrees and humidity was less than 10 percent Monday when three fires took off within an hour of one another.

The Douglas Forest Protective Association and North Douglas County Fire and E.M.S. responded to the first fire off Elkhead Road south of Yoncalla at 2:03 p.m.  Fire crews were assisted by five engines and one helicopter and were able to stop the fire at about three acres.

Just as crews corralled the Elkhead Road Fire, a second fire broke about three miles north of Drain off of Sand Creek and Old Highway 99 at 2:29 p.m.  DFPA responded to the fire with two engines and five firefighters. The fire burned one acre of grass and a small wood pile.

A third fire occurred in the lower Garden Valley area three miles northwest of Roseburg.  Douglas County Fire District #2 and DFPA responded to the fire at 2:58 p.m. with six engines.  The fire burned about three acres of grass and brush.

All three fires are under investigation.