Firefighters mop up a 14-acre grass fire on the east side of Roxy Ann Tuesday. The fire closed Prescott Park. 

Most of us in the Rogue Valley Times newsroom worked from home for a couple of days last week when our AC broke down and temps spiked.

It was a minor inconvenience, especially because we got so much practice working from home during the pandemic, but it was an eerie reminder of what can happen around here during the summer.

A hot office was just one of many potential warning signs that have moved across our radar in recent days. 

We’re being blitzed daily with photos from the Midwest and East Coast as they learn to deal with wildfire smoke streaming down from Canada.

Gov. Tina Kotek declared a drought emergency for Jackson County this week, noting that May was one of the warmest months on record in Jackson County, while streamflow is just 65% of average for this water year.

Earlier this month, the Hat Rock Fire exploded in Umatilla, flashing up to 16,000 acres in a matter of hours.

This week, our neighbors to the south in Siskiyou County, California, held their breath as firefighters battled 17 lightning-sparked wildfires in the Klamath National Forest, not far from where the McKinney Fire killed four people last summer and the Mill Fire killed two. 

On Tuesday of this week, firefighters in Medford battled a 14-acre wildfire on Roxy Ann Peak in Prescott Park — one of the most fire-prone areas of the city.

Earlier this month, a lightning strike in the middle of a field in White City sparked a fast-moving grass fire that forced evacuations and left one home uninhabitable, but it could have been so much worse. Erratic winds from a passing storm fanned the flames, turning what could have been a small grass fire into a threat to an entire neighborhood. First responders acted quickly as the flames torched fences and began melting the siding and breaking windows at several homes, but they kept it from spreading through the residential area.

A reader this week sent us an email asking us to consider revisiting a report that came out in 2019 ranking the 50 communities in Oregon most exposed to wildfire. About half of those communities are in Southern Oregon. Merlin was ranked No. 1 on that list. Medford was No. 3. Eagle Point was No. 6 and Ashland was No. 9. 

The report came out a year before the Almeda Fire, which leveled Phoenix and Talent. Phoenix was ranked 28th on that list. Talent was No. 18.

On Friday, the Bureau of Land Management referenced the report in a press release announcing that the fire danger level in the Medford District had been increased to high. 

“The BLM Medford District is home to 22 of the top 50 communities most at risk for wildland fire in the state of Oregon,” said Chris Glode, BLM Medford Fire Management Officer. “We’re asking everyone to know and follow fire restrictions to help keep our communities and firefighters safe.”

Last summer, the Rum Creek Fire was sparked by lightning near Galice, just a few miles west of Merlin. A firefighter was killed on the first day of the blaze. His comrades kept the flames from reaching Merlin or Grants Pass, which was ranked No. 8 on the list of communities with the most homes at risk of wildfire.

A few minutes after I started writing this column, reporter Morgan Rothborne came in and asked whether the company would reimburse her for the cost of fire boots. She’s already got Nomex pants and jacket, a helmet, pack and fire shelter. She’s just missing the footwear she’ll need to cover the fires we know are coming.

Fire was fresh on Morgan’s mind too, because this week she drove out to the Siskiyou Rappel Base at the Merlin Fire Center to write a feature about the Siskiyou Rappellers, the people who drop from helicopters into rugged terrain to go hand-to-hand with burning trees. She also covered the wildfire that tore up part of Prescott Park.

Can you see why a couple of hot days in the office led me on a tangent through fires new and old? 

— David Smigelski, Rogue Valley Times editor