fire in the valley

It wasn't until yesterday evening, when I received a mass e-mail from the director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, postponing an impending online event, that I learned of the fire that is roiling their valley. Subsequently I searched for some news on it, and found that it started as a brush fire at the far north end of Ashland, which promptly was wind-driven to the northwest, away from Ashland but on to the smaller towns of Talent and Phoenix, and even causing major evacuations in the larger city of Medford. Medford! Where can they even go? I suppose to Grants Pass, 30 miles away; there's nowhere else in three counties large enough to handle that many evacuees.

This morning an article in the local paper on people who've scouted out Talent since the fire passed through revealed that the town was partly burnt. They weren't mentioned specifically, but our favorite restaurant in the area and the OSF scenery warehouse, which is also in Talent due to lack of space in Ashland, are on the side of town described as generally OK, so here's hoping. No more word on what the fire's doing now.

This is all profoundly weird, as Oregon is traditionally immune from raging fires, due to being sopping wet all the time. But the Ashland area has been dry for two months now.