Five days into fire season on the Oregon side, crews stayed busy hunting and fighting fires caused by lightning on Monday and Tuesday (June 8th-9th).
Oregon Department of Forestry reports roughly two dozen fires from lightning strikes in the southwestern part of the state. The largest--the Galls Creek Complex--grouped three fires under a single fire command, with a total of 90 acres burned. Galls Creek is a Rogue River tributary near Gold Hill.
The largest single fire is the Corn Creek Fire, which started Monday near Canyonville and burned 98 acres before crews got a fire line around it.
Fire crews fought more lightning-caused fires on the California side, most under an acre. The Bald Hill Fire on state-protected land near Orick made the largest footprint at 37 acres.
The weather patterns that caused a sudden heat wave and the thunderstorms is not likely to repeat in the near future. The National Weather Service forecasts a slow decline in temperatures through the weekend.