EMS and Fire Spend a Busy Weekend; Smoke and Haze Fill the Skies; Two City Meetings Cancelled; City Wide Garage Sale – and – Rods And Rhody Weekend

EMS and Fire Spend a Busy Weekend

It was a full weekend for first responders as the increase of summer traffic took its toll on the roadways.  It began on Friday evening on highway 101 near the Rock Creek Campground with a three vehicle accident as a driver was attempting to pass a line of cars causing a head on collision.  Western Lane Ambulance and Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue responded.  Oregon State Police are investigating.  Traffic was stopped in both directions for about an hour.  On Saturday it was a succession of three accidents  the first coming at 11:25 on Canary Road.  The road was closed for two hours as police, fire and ambulance responded.  An accident on the dunes at 2:51 pm brought western Lane Ambulance out to the Goosepasture Staging area on South Jetty Road. A short hour later Western Lane Ambulance was called out to Highway 36 just east of Swisshome for another wreck with injuries.  There were several medical transports to Riverbend on Saturday as a result of these accidents.  Two more accidents on Sunday, both occurring on highway 101 near Sand Dunes Frontier the first involved 2 vehicles resulting in a rollover and the need for extracation.  Traffic was stopped in both directions for about an hour as medical and fire responded.  New rules surrounding the distribution on information to the public limits what first responders can share with media outlets and the public.  Details come as police agencies complete their investigations.

Smoke and Haze Fill the Skies

What would have been a sunny weekend in Florence was thwarted as smoke and haze from several of the fires burning across the state set in over the skies of Florence.  There are about a dozen fires across the state and just over the line in Washington.  The latest fire to be declared a conflagration by Governor Kate Brown is the Stubblefield fire in Condon.  Over 50 homes have been threatened by fire there according to the Oregon Office of the State Fire Marshall.  Even though there were no nearby fires the smell of smoke was evident in the air in Florence early yesterday morning.  Smoke and haze are expected over the next several days as temperatures near 80 degrees in Florence by tomorrow.  There is an air quality alert for most of the state, but Lane County is not Currently listed in that alert.

Two City Meetings Cancelled

Two meetings scheduled for Wednesday have been cancelled.  There was a planned City Council Work Session for 10 am and a Florence Urban Renewal Agency Meeting at 5:30, both were slated for the Florence Event Center.

City Wide Garage Sale – and – Rods And Rhody Weekend

The city is preparing for the 6th annual Florence Community Wide Garage Sale.  The 3 day sale will happen over the weekend of September 7th.  Participants can pay 20 dollars to be included in a map that will be distributed through the Siuslaw news.  That same weekend will also be the annual Rods and Rhodies event t hat will include a Show and Shine in the Siuslaw Marina Parking lot on Friday night and the closing of Bay Street on Saturday and Sunday for an Invitational Car Show.