Note: Oregon State University Extension Service employees are among the tens of thousands of Oregonians who were evacuated due to the September wildfires. These are three of their stories.
Around noon on Tuesday, Sept. 8, Gordon Jones first heard about a fire heading north from Ashland.
Jones, an Oregon State University assistant professor of practice and Extension agriculture faculty member in Jackson and Josephine counties, works at the Southern Oregon Research and Extension Center (SOREC) in Central Point. He left work to return to his apartment in Talent and gather supplies — still unaware of the fire that would become known as the Almeda Fire.
“I went for a walk around town,” Jones said. “By about 4 p.m. they had basically stopped fighting the fire from the ground in Talent and instead were chasing the front line to the north to try to protect Medford. The wind was blowing hard in that direction. I spoke with a number of people who were standing watching their homes burn down.”
He returned home, updated neighbors and gathered a second round of belongings. Police began driving through his apartment complex broadcasting “get ready” evacuation warnings. Aircraft dropped water and retardant overhead.
“By about 6 o’clock, the police rolled through again and told us to leave.”
“Thankfully the fire stopped about two blocks away from my apartment complex."
With both Interstate 5 and Highway 99 closed, evacuees had to navigate rural backroads.
“It was very slow going,” he said.
Jones returned to SOREC, where he spent the night on the floor of his office. The center still had power and internet access.
“The wind was blowing the fire generally toward SOREC, but that part of the county wasn’t under evacuation warnings. I knew if the fire got close, I could run our lawn sprinklers and/or go stand in our large, well-watered alfalfa field.”
At daybreak Wednesday, he drove back into Talent and Phoenix and saw widespread devastation.
“Thankfully the fire stopped about two blocks away from my apartment complex,” said Jones, who was staying in a hotel at the time.
‘That feeling of safety didn’t last long’
Two hours north, Alicia Christiansen and her husband, Ben, woke up to the French Creek Fire burning just a few miles away.
They live on 12 wooded acres near Little River in Glide. Christiansen is OSU Extension’s forestry agent for Douglas County.
“We could see trees flaring up, so we figured we should prepare the outside of our home just to be safe — in case of embers,” she said.
They brought in patio furniture and propane tanks, closed windows and watered vegetation around their house. Within hours, they believed the French Creek Fire wasn’t an immediate threat.
“That feeling of safety didn’t last long.”
“This has been challenging and emotionally draining — especially with an infant. But we’re all together, and that’s what matters. Our family and pets are safe.”
By midmorning, Ben — a forester — heard on the radio that two new fires had started near the North Umpqua River: the Archie Creek and Star Mountain fires. The Christiansens, who have a 4-month-old son, Quincy, and two dogs, live relatively close to where the Star Mountain Fire started.
“Ben told me to start packing, and he would head home to help,” she said. “Around noon, it became very apparent that the fire was growing rapidly. There were no official evacuation notices yet, so we felt okay taking our time to pack essentials and irreplaceable items.”
They also photographed their belongings and left that afternoon to stay with friends in Roseburg.
That night, a Level 3 “go now” evacuation was issued for Glide and surrounding areas. The two fires later merged into the Archie Creek Fire. Though the fire burned down to the ridge opposite their house, it had not crossed the river.
“We have no clue how long we’ll be evacuated,” she said. “This has been challenging and emotionally draining — especially with an infant. But we’re all together, and that’s what matters. Our family and pets are safe.”
'The sky was beautifully terrifying’
In the northeast Willamette Valley, Tiffany Hopkins could feel something was off.
Hopkins is the statewide coordinator for OSU Extension’s Master Woodland Manager program and the Women Owning Woodlands Network. She lives on 26 acres in Colton with her husband, Colby, and their 10-month-old son, Rhett.
On the morning of Sept. 8, Colby — a structural firefighter and paramedic — came home from what he described as “the craziest shift he had ever had,” after battling a fire in West Linn.
“The sky at our house was very smoky and eerie. We talked about the possibility of evacuation, but we didn’t think it was likely. Still, we packed a go-bag and watered the perimeter of the house.”
“The sky at our house was very smoky and eerie,” Hopkins said. “We talked about the possibility of evacuation, but we didn’t think it was likely. Still, we packed a go-bag and watered the perimeter of the house.”
She left for a doctor’s appointment in Oregon City and, on her return trip, saw hundreds of trailers going the opposite direction.
“The smoky sky was beautifully terrifying,” she said. “My gut told me things had changed.”
By the time she reached home, ash was falling like snowflakes and the sky had turned black. Two fires — the Unger and Riverside fires — were burning nearby. Hopkins pushed to evacuate before receiving an official notice. When she calculated the closest fire was just over a mile away, the decision became clear.
Just before they finished packing, they received a Level 3 “go now” evacuation order. They left for her parents’ house in Sandy — only to receive a Level 2 “be ready” notice there the next day. The family preemptively evacuated again, this time to Prineville, staying in their travel trailer.
“By Thursday, the smoke rolled in extremely thick — it was unsafe for us and our baby,” she said. They moved again, staying with friends in Prineville, and later returned to Sandy for Colby’s job.
The threat has since decreased, and the family has received word that their home is safe — for now.
“Last night the winds shifted, and that could move the fire,” Hopkins said. “We have no idea when we’ll return. It’s been emotionally draining and full of new challenges. But we have a safe place to stay, and we’re together. That’s absolutely what matters most.”
