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00000171-95d3-d2cb-a5f3-9fff6ded0000 Check here for information on fires in our region. You can also check out these resources:Northwest Interagency Coordination CenterSWOFIRE: Oregon Department of Forestry, SW regionCalFire: Current Fire InformationInciWeb: Incident Information SystemOregon Smoke Blog: Smoke informationSouth Central Oregon Fire Management Cooperative (Klamath/Lake Counties & Crater Lake)

Wildfire Agencies Make Plans To Coordinate Better

Oregon Department of Forestry

After nearly a week of fighting dozens of lightning-caused fires, agencies in several levels of government announced plans to better coordinate the firefighting.The Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest announced "a multi-agency coordination group that will provide a mechanism for prioritizing incidents, sharing resources and putting fires out more efficiently."

A series of thunderstorms on July 15th started the fires and threw federal, state, and some local firefighting agencies into high gear.  But even physical proximity does not mean shared resources.  For example: Oregon Department of Forestry is managing the Wagner Creek Complex of fires, but it's U.S. Forest Service crews fighting a fire close to nearby Wagner Butte. 

Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest Supervisor Merv George, Jr. said "local leaders believe that we can be more efficient in keeping our communities safe by working more strategically together."

Around the same time, Jackson and Josephine Counties released an interactive map showing all of the fires currently burning in the two counties.

Meanwhile, ODF announced the raising of the fire danger to Extreme for state-protected lands in Jackson and Josephine Counties, effective midnight Thursday (July 19).

Geoffrey Riley is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism and has hosted the Jefferson Exchange on JPR since 2009. He's been a broadcaster in the Rogue Valley for more than 35 years, working in both television and radio.