MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) – Sparks from a car may have caused a wildfire that has burned 115 acres above Grants Pass. The Mail Tribune reports investigators believe the blaze likely started Saturday along the northbound lane of Interstate 5. The Oregon Department of Forestry is asking for help identifying the driver.
BEND, Ore. (AP) – Redmond fire crews and Deschutes County responders came to the aid of a 17-year-old Redmond resident who fell while climbing in Smith Rock State Park. KTVZ-TV reports the youth fell about 20 feet and injured his ankle Saturday morning. Authorities say the injured teen was placed on a wheeled litter, transported to the river and ferried across to an ambulance.
WOODBURN, Ore. (AP) – Two people were critically injured after a three-vehicle crash east of Woodburn. Oregon State Police say Teddy Steven Gitts and Deborah Gitts, of Canby, were hurt when their car was struck by a pickup on Highway 211 just before 5 p.m. Saturday. The force of the pickup causing their car to spin and hit another pickup.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – The overall number of illegal drug deaths in Oregon dropped again last year, but heroin deaths reached a record high. The Oregonian reports that overall illicit drug deaths totaled 223, down 7 percent from the year before. But 147 of them were attributed to heroin overdoses.
