CAVE JUNCTION, Ore. (AP) -- A fire driven by strong winds through grass and brush destroyed a home and threatened 178 more in southwestern Oregon on Wednesday.
The fire, which is near the site of the massive 2002 Biscuit fire, was burning about 5 miles south of Cave Junction across U.S. Highway 199 from the Rough and Ready Lumber Co. sawmill, said Department of Forestry spokesman Dennis Turco.
A structural firefighting strike team from the Rogue Valley was sent to the fire along with a wildland taskforce, Turco said.
The fire burned a home and a motor home and threatened 178 other residences, said Susan Emley, spokeswoman for the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center in Portland.
Some other small fires of about an acre in size were also burning on the Siskiyou National Forest nearby, Emley said.
There was no immediate word on the cause of the fire.
In 2002, the Biscuit fire burned 500,000 acres mostly on the Siskiyou National Forest and threatened the 17,000 residents of the Illinois Valley, including the town of Cave Junction, after four lightning-sparked fires merged.
