A man has died while working the fire line on the Wrights Spring Fire in Southern Oregon.
According to the Klamath County Sheriff’s Office, Jason Ensign, of Klamath Falls, was operating a D-6 dozer helping fire crews in the Yahwee Plateau area.
“During those operations, the fire experienced unexpected and rapid growth associated with a weather event, resulting in extreme fire behavior,” Sheriff Shane L. Mitchell said in a social media post. “The rapidly changing conditions cut Jason’s dozer off from his escape route to a safety zone.”
After fire conditions diminished, fire crews and rescue teams searched for Ensign. He was found several hours later inside an extensively damaged Caterpillar D-6 dozer dead.
“This is a heartbreaking loss,” Mitchell said. “Behind every helmet, every engine and every piece of heavy equipment is a person who went to work expecting to come home.”
Ensign was helping during firefighting operations for the Green Diamond Timber Resource Company Friday. He was 47 years old.
The Wrights Spring Fire in Southern Oregon’s Fremont-Winema National Forest grew to nearly 9,000 acres by Friday morning and it’s perimeter was sill listed at 0% containment.
The fire started on Wednesday about 6 miles east of Modoc Point, along the Upper Klamath Lake.
As of Friday evening, about 475 people were listed under Level 1 “Be Ready” and Level 2 “Get Set” evacuation orders between U.S. Highway 97 and the Sprague River, northeast of the lake.
No Level 3 “Go Now!” evacuation orders had been issued as of Friday evening.
The Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Office announced Friday that Gov. Tina Kotek had invoked the Emergency Conflagration Act to send more firefighting resources to the area.
“We have been working with the local fire agencies and interagency partners since this incident was first reported,” Assistant Chief Deputy State Fire Marshal Mariah Rawlins said. “This fire has seen extreme growth and at the request of the fire defense board chief and county commissioner we are immediately engaging.”
This is the 12th time this year that the Emergency Conflagration Act has been invoked.
This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
