CENTRAL POINT, Ore. -- Fire crews along with the City of Central Point and the Jackson County expo spent Saturday burning piles of debris and blackberry bushes for a controlled burn. This was in preparation for this year's 4th of July celebration at the Expo, in hopes of avoiding another fire during the fireworks show. This year's show was almost not scheduled because of last year's fire but the City and the Expo decided the show must go on.
"When you've been doing it for almost 10 years and people expect it and then to not have it, it just didn't seem right. So I think with the Expo and the City of Central Point getting together to determine it's going to happen, they were able to do it," said Mike Blake with Central Point's Public Works Department.
Blake added this time of year is the perfect time to do a controlled burn in the area.
"You can't be out here burning when it's fire season. Our fire contractors are firefighters. This is their slow time. This is what they do. We want to keep them going in and getting as much done as we can in case something happens and we have to take off," said Blake. "One or two weeks of warm weather and everything out here would change. The rain last night really knocked everything down. It's a great time to burn."
If the weather permits, fire crews are expected to burn more brush Monday to Wednesday.
