Lightning sets off blazes 5

Ashland Daily Tidings (Ashland, OR — Wayback)

2002-03-28

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--> --> Lightning sets off blazes ROGUE RIVER (AP) - A 12-year-old boy climbed on to the roof of his house with a garden hose and sprinkler to help his family save their home from a fast-moving wildfire that burned 35 acres and a nearby house. Jonathon Shonk said he was at a friend's house a mile away when his friend's mom said she saw smoke. He ran home, called his father, John Shonk, and did what he could to protect the home. The boy was spraying water across the roof as he watched the blaze consume the home of his neighbors, Rick and Sharon Sewell, just 100 feet away. "It was scary because the fire was right there," Jonathon said. The fire eventually burned around two sides of Jonathon's home and into the back yard, destroying a tool shed 15 feet from the house before helicopter and air tanker crews helped firefighters on the ground control the blaze. No injuries were reported. A Jackson County sheriff's dispatcher said the fire started in a barn and spread to surrounding fields. Hickman said the cause is under investigation. Elsewhere, lightning set off wildfires in the Ashland and Burns areas. Three small fires were reported early Tuesday in the Ashland Watershed. Officials said the largest was about four acres. Officials hoped to contain the fires in a few hours, unless winds pick up, said Phil Cardin at the Medford Interagency Communication Center. The Northwest Interagency Coordination Center in Portland said an 800-acre fire near Pilot Rock should be contained by tonight. Another fire near Meacham was about 90 percent contained today, having burned between 150 and 200 acres. Lightning also caused more than a dozen fires in the Burns area. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing