Lebanon firefighters responded to three fires during a 24-hour shift starting Tuesday, June 20, Lebanon Fire District reported.
At 6:27 p.m. LFD personnel responded to a brush fire in the 1400 block of Grant Street. Responders found a fire approximately half an acre in size, in thick brush and tall grass which made it difficult to battle the fire.
The battalion chief changed tactics and started fighting fire with fire, crews started using drip torches to put fire on the ground to consume unburned fuels that surrounded the fire. Once the all the unburned fuel were consumed, firefighters started cooling the fire around the edges of the fire.
The property was once used for one of Lebanon’s many lumber mills. The only items left on the site is asphalt and concrete roads. The property is surrounded by a campground, a school and houses. The fire crews finished up with securing the fire to ensure it would not move out of the burned area at 10:37 p.m.
At 10:48 p.m. an LFD staffer returning to their station notified Linn County dispatch that there was a large fire in the 32000 block of Brewster Road. The battalion chief arrived on scene to find a 40-by-40-foot fire that was quickly extinguished. The fire was in the same area as two previous large fires, the most recent last Sunday, June 25.
Lebanon Fire responded with 13 apparatus and 21 personnel and was assisted by Albany Fire Department to help cover the multiple emergency calls that came in while crews battled the blazes.
At 1:12 a.m. Wednesday, firefighters were dispatched to a structure fire in the 35000 block of Bohlken Drive to find a 20-by-20-foot chicken coop that was fully involved. The fire was quickly extinguished with one engine and a truck.
The chicken coop housed about 125 pheasants, which were lost in the fire.
The cause of all three fires are under investigation, LFD reported.
— Photo courtesy of LFD