Jesse Vermillion of the Jacksonville, Ore., Fire Department.

For one Southern Oregon student firefighter, the Almeda Fire didn’t just hit close to home — it destroyed it.

Jesse Vermillion, 31, a student firefighter with the Jacksonville, Ore., Fire Department, was on scene when his childhood home and neighborhood went up in flames.

It was the home he grew up in from the time he was a freshman at Phoenix High School, and where his parents had lived for 16 years.

Nine months into his volunteer fire position, he never anticipated an experience like the Almeda or Obenshein fires.

“Trial by fire,” he said.

Vermillion was working his day job as a Fed-Ex delivery driver earlier in the day when the fire started near Ashland on Sept. 8.

Coming off a shift from the night before as a student firefighter, he and others at the station had talked about the high wind warnings.

Normally, Vermillion made package deliveries in Ashland, but a last minute change had him shifting gears to cover the areas of Phoenix and Talent.

“It was kind of by chance I ended up being in Phoenix and Talent,” Vermillion said.

That afternoon, “I saw people grabbing their stuff and loading up their cars,” he said.

It soon became apparent to Vermillion that it was time to change out of his delivery clothes and into firefighter turnouts.

“The winds were just very strong,” he said. “I just saw the smoke just kind of barreling past me.”

Once at the fire station, he joined up with crews in Talent, Ashland and later on Phoenix for the next 30 hours straight.

Crews had hoped to set up a fire line behind Samuel Loop in Phoenix, his parents’ neighborhood, where they hoped to keep the fire from spreading.

“They got all set up to fight it and then the hydrants went dry, so they didn’t have any water to fight it with,” he said.

“I think it was a combination of basically every fire department and every hydrant for the cities were being used for the whole day,” he added, noting the power was out, too.

“We were kind of hunting down hydrants that had water.”

The fire destroyed his childhood neighborhood.

“I watched it burn,” he said. “As soon as that went up in flames, I knew (my parents’) house was gone.

“It didn’t hit me till quite a few hours in, I think,” he added. “It was just kind of a little surreal, I grew up there.”

Vermillion was the one to let his parents know about their home.

“I texted them at some point early that morning, told them that their house was gone,” he said.

Vermillion said his parents were able to grab some photos before having to flee their home with their dog. They’re staying with friends following the fire.

“They’ve been blown away with how kind people have been,” Vermillion said.

Although his old neighborhood was burned, the fire crews were able to save nearby neighborhoods from the flames.

Vermillion went on to fight the Obenshein Fire as well.

Battling the fires also helped solidify his career choice. He started in his volunteer position about nine months ago.

“I kind of went into this not knowing if I really wanted to do firefighting,” Vermillion said.

“Even with Almeda, it kind of solidified it even more for me because I think I would much rather be in there being able to help out where I can than if I were just evacuated and just kind of watch it all from the sideline.”