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A 100-acre fire erupted in a remote corner of Jackson County between Sams Valley and Wimer Wednesday afternoon, threatening homes and prompting helicopter air drops. “It’s scary times,” said Jack Montgomery, a 69-year-old resident of rural Sams Valley who could see columns of smoke rising in the distance from near his house. “My wife got scared, so I headed home from work.” Helicopters from the Klondike fire burning to the west of Grants Pass were called in to help with firefighting efforts, dipping into residents’ ponds to fill up their buckets. The Ramsey Canyon fire is burning around Hull Mountain near Ramsey Road and East Evans Creek Road, and is south of the Garner fire, which has been 85 percent contained after burning through 8,886 acres. Firefighters called a level 1 “be-ready” evacuation order for a number of roads in the area, including Ramsey, Ramsey-Canyon and East Evans Creek. “It’s kind of a circle around Hull Mountain,” said Lisa Rice, a public information trainee for the Joint Information Center, which is overseeing many area wildfires. She said the number of homes being threatened hasn’t been calculated yet. However, firefighters on scanner estimated about 100 structures were threatened in the area. The Oregon Department of Forestry is managing the fire, sending in an air attack that included four Type II, or medium-lift, helicopters, and one Type 1, or light-lift, helicopters. Bulldozers and crews headed into the fire in the afternoon Wednesday and into the evening. The aircraft were conducting drops along a ridge top in the Hull Mountain area. “They will continue to fly until they can’t or until they’re not needed,” Rice said. Investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the fire, she said. This area has seen its share of fires over the years, and Montgomery was happy to see the aircraft dropping loads to cool down the fire, remembering back to other fires. “One time, they dropped a load on my house,” he remembered. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 541-776-4476 or [email protected] . Follow him @ reporterdm .