'Hostile parties' blocked firefighters from fire - News - MailTribune.com - Medford, OR

Document text

'Hostile parties' blocked firefighters from fire Friday Jan 6, 2017 at 3:39 PM By Troy Shinn Grants Pass Daily Courier Firefighters responding to a structure fire Thursday in the O'Brien area had to back out and wait for police due to hostile parties on the scene acting aggressive toward firefighters and blocking their access. Illinois Valley Fire District Public Information Officer Jason Bayless confirmed that firefighters responded to what was called in as a structure fire off of the Redwood Highway near Arrowhead Drive around 4:30 p.m. "There was some sort of altercation between two parties when we got there, and they actually tried to block us from the scene with their vehicles," Bayless said. The structure fire was a motor home that was on fire. The cause of the fire is still being investigated, though the damages were reported as a total loss, due to the camper not being insured. IV Fire Chief Dennis Hoke confirmed this account. "When we arrived, I was trying to determine how best to access the fire with our trucks, but two parties pulled in with their vehicles and began arguing," Hoke said. "Their vehicle actually blocked our path to the fire and they were being very verbally aggressive toward each other and to our firefighters." It was at that point that firefighters evacuated the scene and called Josephine County sheriff's deputies and Oregon State Police to the scene to assist them. Police had to drive from Grants Pass, with the distance and icy roads causing police to arrive about 30-45 minutes after they were called in. Authorities got the scene under control and firefighters were able to eventually put out the blaze. No arrests appear to have been made in the incident, though police call logs confirm the location was the scene of another incident a couple of days earlier. — Reach reporter Troy Shinn at 541-474-3806 or [email protected]