When firefighter Jennifer Colcon, part of the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Polk County crew, set out to battle the Rowena wildfire, she braced for rugged terrain and searing heat — not a face-to-face encounter with a terrified baby deer.
The blaze, which scorched 3,563 acres and destroyed 56 homes in the Columbia River Gorge, pushed Colcon and her crew to their limits.
“It was very difficult,” she told FireRescue1. “Our eyes were running, our noses were running, and we were coughing pretty good.”…