Arson investigators have opened a probe into the suspicious origins of a deadly Oregon wildfire that began in the town of Ashland and destroyed hundreds of homes in nearby communities, Ashland's police chief said on Thursday.
ASHLAND, Ore. - Arson investigators have opened a probe into the suspicious origins of a deadly Oregon wildfire that began in the town of Ashland and destroyed hundreds of homes in nearby communities, Ashland’s police chief said on Thursday.
More bodies are expected to be discovered as search teams comb through the wreckage of dwellings that were engulfed during a chaotic evacuation of populated areas along the path of the swiftly spreading flames, Ashland police chief Tighe O’Meara said. The flames, driven by high winds, did relatively little damage to Ashland but quickly spread out of town and into neighboring communities along Bear Creek before roaring through the adjacent towns of Talent and Phoenix toward Medford, a city of 82,000 residents, O’Meara said.
The area was off-limits to evacuees, but here and there individuals and couples were seen trudging along the roadway with arm loads of belongings they apparently had managed to salvage from the wreckage of their homes. “Every fire is investigated for the possibility of arson so that we can either determine it is or rule it out,” he said.
The Almeda fire was one of the most devastating of dozens of conflagrations that have burned through forests and communities across the western United States during the past few days, killing a total of at least nine people in northern California, Oregon and Washington state.
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