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Fierce storm batters valley Photo by Drew Fleming Bobbi Blackford, neighbor of Chuck and Marcie Nickerson on Bluebonnet Avenue in Medford, takes a closer look at the Nickersons' big blue spruce that fell in Monday evening's winds. Several other trees fell during the storm. Fells trees, cuts power, ignites fires By PETER WONG This morning's calm in the Rogue Valley comes after Monday night's thunderstorm, which downed power lines and toppled trees in Medford, Ashland and elsewhere. Monday's early-evening storm touched off at least nine fires, all of them small, that kept Oregon Department of Forestry crews busy from Ashland to Butte Falls. Personal leaves were canceled today. The storm also caused power outages across Jackson County. Pacific Power restored service to most Medford customers late Monday, but crews were kept busy all night clearing trees. One of the fallen trees was a blue spruce, estimated at 40 feet tall, that fell from the yard of Chuck and Marcie Nickerson on Bluebonnet Avenue in Medford. Sherry Edwards, a neighbor, saw the tree fall. A tree that fell on Willie Frazier's property in east Medford was one of many that fell or lost limbs in the quirky winds Monday night. "I had gone out to move my motor home into the driveway when I happened to glance over there," Edwards said. "And it went down -- fast. It was a terrible wind, unbelievable. It was scary." Marcie Nickerson said neither she nor her husband saw it. "Some of our neighbors know more about what happened than we do," she said. "We were in the house watching television and we did not hear it fall over. Someone knocked on our door, we went out, and there it was. "A neighbor (Bo Blackford) came by with a huge chainsaw and cut it up so we could move it out of the street. "We are just fortunate that it did not hit our cars or our house. It isn't an experience I would want to have again." Jack McMillan was not as fortunate. A tree fell onto his recreational vehicle parked outside his home on Lone Pine Road in Medford. "It was brand new," said Jody Blanton, a friend. "The plastic was not even off the floor. It looks like it has a bulge in the middle." Sharon Dady moved her car to a neighbor's house after a tree fell onto Spring Street in Medford. "We have a two-story house, and the tree was probably twice as high, so it was big," she said. In addition to numerous reports of downed power lines and trees in Medford, Ashland and points in between, Ken Goodson, a Medford Fire Department battalion chief, said the winds whipped up a fire that destroyed a Ford Escort at Barnett Road and Riverside Avenue. In Talent, the winds were so fierce they punched out the illuminated "Jack's Tally Ho" sign on Highway 99. Tally Ho bartender Cheryl McHenry was on her way back to work, driving her 1979 GMC pickup down Main Street in Talent when one tree crashed down behind her. She got to the Tally Ho, only to find yellow sheets of plastic from the sign blowing around the parking lot. "We just put that sign up a couple of years ago," she said. "The regular customers got out there and helped me pick it all up.'' In Ashland, the same vicious wind split the 40-year-old Modesto ash tree that shades the visitor information kiosk in the plaza downtown. Those on the balcony at Alex's Plaza Restaurant heard the loud cracking noise as it went down, and shouted news of the event to others in the bar area. "Everyone ran to the windows," said Ryan Scalf, a bartender. "It definitely got everyone's attention." Ashland Park horticulturist Donn Todt said the wind and rain split a 400-pound limb from the tree. The limb cranked over slowly and went to the ground. "It didn't get the kiosk but created a real mess in the street," he noted. Todt said because other limbs of the tree are weakening, the city will probably take the whole tree out soon. Power outages were reported all over the region, but they were scattered. A Pacific Power spokeswoman said about 5,200 customers were without power at the peak of the storm, but that number dwindled to about 800 late Monday. A storm earlier Monday touched off two fires on Wagner Butte in the Ashland Ranger District and another just east of Union Creek in the Prospect Ranger District. All three fires in the Rogue River National Forest were being mopped up by Monday evening. No fires were reported in the Siskiyou National Forest. The Oregon Department of Forestry, which fights fires on other lands, dealt with a 2-acre blaze west of Prospect caused by a downed power line. Meanwhile, firefighters continue to look for "sleepers," lightning strikes that smolder for a few days before flaming up. The National Weather Service forecasts clear skies today and Wednesday with highs in the 90s. Thunderstorms aren't expected back until this weekend, and those are expected to be centered in the Cascades.(Dani Dodge and Paul Fattig also contributed to this article.) Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA