Milton-Freewater Rural Fire Department holds community meeting to review wildfire response

Community members listen on Aug. 6, 2026., to Reilly Miller, operations chief for the Milton-Freewater Rural Fire Department, during a public meeting on the Lower Dry Creek Fire. (Billie Corsetti/East Oregonian)MILTON-FREEWATER — Three weeks after the Lower Dry Creek wildfire destroyed six homes and 40 buildings, the Milton-Freewater Rural Fire Department held a community debrief to review the fire and listen to concerns from residents. Rural fire department explains responseMiller outlined the rural fire department’s jurisdiction as a nontax-based district. The day before the Lower Dry Creek Fire, July 14, a vegetation fire started in a wheat field near Lower Dry Creek. One thing in agreement between community members and the rural fire department was the Oregon Department of Transportation didn’t shut down Highway 11 quickly enough.