Mail Tribune News - Brush fire halted

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Brush fire halted A brush and grass fire on Roxy Ann Peak burned to within 50 feet of a home before firefighters stopped it Sunday afternoon. The blaze started about 1:30 p.m. off Hillcrest Road near Gardner Way when a push-style weed trimmer overheated and caught fire. Two dozen firefighters from the Medford Fire Department and Oregon Department of Forestry got control of the fire within about 20 minutes, according to Medford Fire Battalion Chief Ken Goodson. A helicopter was also used to stop the fire. Crews spent much of the afternoon mopping up the blaze, which charred about two acres. No one was injured. The fire burned the same area that was charred in a larger blaze there four or five years ago, Goodson said. Forestry officials issued a warning to the woman using the trimmer. The fire danger is still listed as "extreme," so the mowing of dry grass is prohibited, along with the use of chainsaws and similar equipment. The fire was stopped at the driveway of a house that neighbors the woman's property. "The property owners had done a real good job of clearing the underbrush and making it a defensible space," he said. Mail Tribune Copyright �  The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA