Fires, suspicious activity on Wilderville property, fire officials say

WILDERVILLE, Ore. — A property in Josephine County is causing a lot of problems for local firefighters.

Rural Metro Fire says it’s had to respond to several fires on the property in Wilderville and don’t always feel safe doing so.

There were two fires on the property this month; the most recent was on Saturday afternoon.

Firefighters were called to a burning RV on the 300 Block of Fir Canyon Road.

There were no human injuries, but three dogs died in the fire.

The cause of the fire is unknown and the agency says it doesn’t expect that to change.

“When you’re dealing with basically a junk pile, it’s so hard to find evidence when it’s all burned up,” said Austin Prince, Batallion Chief for Rural Metro Fire. “You really come down to investigating and talking with people and trying to get a story and, in this case, the story is all over the board.”

Prince says several transients live on the property without power or water.

He says there was another fire there earlier this month that destroyed a small RV.

It was caused by an escaped burn pile.