© Douglas Forest Protective Association
The Corn Creek Fire is burning about 14 miles east of Canyonville, near the community of Milo.
Hundreds of lightning strikes have sparked dozens of wildfires on state and federal land in southern Oregon since Monday, and continued thunderstorms and high winds have prompted a "red flag" fire warning for Hood River, Curry, Josephine, Jackson, and Klamath counties.
On a day when the Obama administration warned of potentially catastrophic wildfires in the Northwest and Southwest this summer, Oregon officials say fire season has begun far earlier than usual.
"This is the earliest that I can remember in a long time," said Don Ferguson, a spokesman for BLM's Medford district. "I heard someone say it's burning like August out there. "
Fire officials in Klamath and Lake counties
made it official on Friday, declaring that fire season regulations
are in effect.
The recent lightning strikes have often come without significant rainfall. Officials on Tuesday said state and federal fire teams had started battling the majority of fires by late afternoon. While most of them were a tenth of an acre, there were exceptions.
Comment: In Germany, 33 people have been injured after lightning struck one of the country's biggest music festivals.