Paul Saylor, driver’s seat, and his sons Jason, left, Mike and Gary were credited with saving numerous homes and structures with this bulldozer and water tank from burning during the Archie Creek Fire east of Glide, Ore.

GLIDE, Ore. — Jason Saylor didn’t have pre-approval through a fire contract to engage the Archie Creek Fire, but he didn’t let that stop him.

Fire was spreading rapidly southeast of Glide where Saylor grew up and he knew that his brother Gary’s home and other nearby residences and structures on Lone Rock Road were being threatened. When he arrived the morning of Sept. 8 at Gary’s house in his truck, with his trailer and bulldozer in tow, the fire was just 200 yards up the slope above it.

Jason Saylor immediately began blading a fire trail around the house.

“I was monitoring the wind, making sure I was in a safe spot … doing what we do as firefighters,” said Saylor who has been fighting fires since first working for Douglas Forest Protective Association in 1998.

Saylor now co-owns Saylor Construction with his father, Paul Saylor. The business specializes in road building and maintenance in the woods.

After getting a fire trail around Gary’s house, Saylor turned his dozer to the next driveway and cut a trail around another house as fire creeped within just a few yards of the back deck.

By this time, Paul Saylor and sons Gary and Mike had arrived with a water tanker truck. As Jason continued to cut a 15- to 20-foot trail around houses, the tanker followed and hot spots were watered down. Jason cut trail until 2 a.m. before going home for a couple hours of sleep. He was back on his Cat at 6:30, extending the fire trail from Lone Rock Road to Bar L Ranch Road. During that second day, Jason was aided by Harry Thomas and his son, Seth, on their dozers.

“The magnitude of what we accomplished in those four days has me smiling,” Jason Saylor said. “It’s almost like a dream. We stopped fire where we needed to stop it. We kicked ass. The efforts of the local community saved a lot of structures and property. The last thing I wanted to see was my community burned up.”

Some local folks in Glide have said the efforts of Jason and his family saved the community of Glide. Of the 30 homes along Lone Rock Road, only two burned.

While Harry and Seth left to help ranchers to the north protect their properties, Jason continued cutting trail toward Little River Road over the next two days.

“Fortunately, they put the fire line where it was needed,” said one Glide resident.

“I think it’s the better part of humanity to do what you can when you can,” Jason Saylor said. “As a farmer, I burn fields, I understand fire. If you have a skill set you can use for the betterment of the community, you certainly should.”