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Not Enough Resources For Fast-Moving Fires In Oregon

Holiday Farm Fire on Facebook

The Holiday Farm Fire in the McKenzie River area has grown to 105,000 acres since sparking Monday night along Highway 126. 

About 200 crews are working the fire, but Damon Simmons, Public Information Officer with the Holiday Farm Fire said there should be more like a thousand people on this blaze.

“The fire, it’s really moving and we don’t have enough resources.” Simmons said. “We have asked for more resources. But as most people are aware, this fire situation encompasses the entire region and the entire state and the entire west coast so there aren’t any resources for anyone to send right now.”

Evacuations remain in effect for the communities of Vida, Blue River, Mohawk, McKenzie Bridge, Leaburg, and Walterville.

“We’re just trying to save lives right now and we’re just trying to save whole communities at this point in time.” Simmons said. “So we’re hoping for a break in the weather and then we can start to push in and make a real impact on this fire, but with the resoruces that we have right now we’re just making do with what we’ve got and saving what we can.”

Credit Holiday Farm Fire Facebook page
The Goodpasture bridge remains safe from the Holiday Farm fire so far. This photo is from Tuesday evening.

The fire has burned through several communities. Despite firefighters' efforts, Blue River was hit hard with most of the structures destroyed. McKenzie High School was saved and a majority of structures in Vida  remain intact.

Simmons urged people to pay attention to Lane County Sheriff evacuation updates

Copyright 2020 KLCC.

Rachael McDonald is KLCC’s host for All Things Considered on weekday afternoons. She also is the editor of the KLCC Extra, the daily digital newspaper. Rachael has a BA in English from the University of Oregon. She started out in public radio as a newsroom volunteer at KLCC in 2000.
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