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State forestry crews respond to multiple wildfires in region for second straight day By Ryan Pfeil Updated: Apr 30, 2021 07:41 AM A A A firefighter works on the front lines of the MM 42 fire outside Prospect Thursday Firefighters from the Oregon Department of Forestry’s Southwest District responded to three more brush fires Thursday after scrambling to contain six from the day before , agency officials reported. The first blaze popped up at 3 p.m. in Josephine County in the 600 block of Brimstone Road, according to ODF public information officer Natalie Weber. Engines from Rural/Metro Fire and the Wolf Creek Rural Fire Protection District also responded to aid ODF crews, which arrived on two engines. Crews contained the fire at a half acre. A quick 15 minutes later, Jackson County crews flocked to a second fire, located along Highway 62 just outside Prospect. Dubbed the Highway 62 MM 42 fire, it had grown to two acres by the time the first crews arrived. Windy conditions continued to spur its growth. Firefighters from the Prospect Rural Fire Protection District, Jackson County Fire District 4, out of Shady Cove, and the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest also responded. By Thursday evening, crews had the fire 80% lined and 10% mopped up, Weber said. Additional updates were not immediately available Friday. Containment efforts prompted a slowdown for traffic on the adjacent stretch of Highway 62, officials said, but no official closures were put in place. Crews responded to the third fire, near the intersection of Soda Mountain Road and Highway 66, at 6:05 p.m., according to dispatch records. Crews from the Greensprings Rural Fire District and Jackson County Fire District 5 also responded. Officials estimated the blaze’s initial size to be 1 1/2 acres, but additional details on containment efforts and growth were not immediately available. Causes for the three fires were not immediately available. Officials also continue to investigate the causes for the six from Wednesday, but said in a news release that they do not appear to be connected. This story will be updated. Reach Mail Tribune web editor Ryan Pfeil at 541-776-4468 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @ryanpfeil .