Sept. 07 -- SPRINGFIELD, OR -- The condition of a California firefighter injured in a hit-and-run collision while assigned to battle the Terwilliger Fire east of Springfield has improved, a hospital official said Thursday morning.
John S. Houdeshell, 71, is in fair condition, said Anne Williams, a spokeswoman for PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend in Springfield. He had been in critical condition from Monday to Wednesday night.
Houdeshell, a water tender driver from Yreka, Calif., was among the hundreds of firefighters battling the nearly 10,000-acre fire in the Willamette National Forest.
He was walking across Highway 126 after dark on Monday when the driver of a van hit him and drove off. The collision occurred near the fire camp at Tokatee Golf Club in McKenzie Bridge.
Oregon State Police troopers are still looking for the van, described as a silver minivan similar to a Chevrolet Astro. State police ask anyone with information to call 503-375-3555. Cellphone users may call *OSP.
The Terwilliger Fire, which began on Aug. 19, has burned 9,639 acres — 15 square miles — and is 35 percent contained, according to the interagency team managing the fire. The blaze began close to Terwilliger Hot Springs, also known as Cougar hot springs, and its cause remains under investigation.
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