Hundreds more firefighters called in to Deer Creek blaze

SELMA, Ore. – Hundreds of additional firefighters were called in Friday to help battle a fast-moving wildfire that burned five homes and forced the evacuation of another 30 to 40 in rural southwestern Oregon.

Larry Watkins watched his two-room house and an attached travel trailer go up in flames.

“I lost everything. It just wiped me right out totally. If you don’t see it on me, I lost it,” Watkins said.

On the same property, structure crews and a helicopter dropping water saved the home of Nathan Lansdown, who pitched in by using a power washer and shovel.

But Lansdown lost five vehicles, including a Jeep, a school bus and a pickup truck.

As of Friday afternoon, five homes had been destroyed, officials said.

The Deer Creek fire was burning on about 1,800 acres of dense forest mixed with homes a few miles east of the rural community of Selma, said Oregon Department of Forestry spokesman Brian Ballou.

More than 900 firefighters were battling the blaze, which was 10 percent contained late Friday.

Sheriff’s deputies tied yellow plastic tape to the mailboxes of homes as they moved through the area urging people to evacuate. Roads were closed, trailers carrying horses left the area and residents gathered to watch as four air tankers and three helicopters dropped fire retardant and water.

“It started in the flats and moved east and northeast on both sides of Deer Creek Road for three-quarters of a mile,” Ballou said. “Once it got up into that timber up there, it just took off.”

In Montana, dozens of firefighters were battling a wildfire near Columbus here that blew up to more than 1,000 acres Friday night, an official said.

No homes were immediately threatened by the Cottonwood fire, although a subdivision was within 3 1/2 miles, said Lee Schmelzer, public information officer for Stillwater County.

The fire, burning in grass, timber and brush about 13 miles northeast of Columbus, was estimated at about 1,200 acres near midnight, he said.

Authorities were notified of the blaze around 5 p.m. Its cause was not immediately known, Schmelzer said.

Fire crews worked into the predawn hours building a line, and Schmelzer said an assessment would be made early Saturday whether additional help would be needed.

About 60 to 70 firefighters were involved, and an aircraft was making water drops on the fire, he said.