Editing Phoenix, Oregon (section)

==History==
The area was settled in about 1850 by brothers Hiram and [[Samuel Colver]]. Samuel Colver laid out the town in 1854. Early residents included Milton Lindley, who operated a sawmill that provided timbers in 1855 for a [[blockhouse]] as well as a flouring mill owned by Sylvester M. Wait. For a time, the settlement was known locally as ''Gasburg'' after a talkative employee in the kitchen serving the mill hands. Wait, who was an agent for the [[The Phoenix Companies|Phoenix Insurance Company]] of [[Hartford, Connecticut]], assigned the official name, ''Phoenix'', to the community and, in 1857, to its post office. [[Waitsburg, Washington]], was later named after Wait.<ref name="OGN">{{cite book | last = McArthur | first = Lewis A. | author-link = Lewis A. McArthur |author2=Lewis L. McArthur |author2-link=Lewis L. McArthur | title = [[Oregon Geographic Names]] | orig-year = 1928 | edition = 7th | year = 2003 | publisher = [[Oregon Historical Society]] Press | location = Portland, Oregon | isbn = 0-87595-277-1 | page = 760}}</ref>

===2020 fire===
On September 8, 2020, much of Phoenix, along with neighboring [[Talent, Oregon|Talent]] and parts of [[Medford, Oregon|Medford]] and [[Ashland, Oregon|Ashland]], were destroyed by the [[Almeda Drive Fire]].<ref>Erik Neumann, and Liam Moriarty, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20200910205524/https://www.ijpr.org/2020-09-08/fire-in-ashland-leads-to-limited-evacuations "The Almeda Drive Fire Causes Extensive Damage To Talent and Phoenix"]}}, Jefferson Public Radio (last accessed 10 September 2020)</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2020/09/wildfire-cuts-swath-of-destruction-in-southern-oregon-phoenix-and-talent-pretty-well-devastated.html|title=Wildfire cuts swath of destruction in southern Oregon; Phoenix and Talent 'pretty well devastated'|author=Crombie, Noelle|date=September 9, 2020|publisher=OregonLive|access-date=September 10, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://mailtribune.com/news/top-stories/talent-phoenix-wakes-up-to-decimated-neighborhoods-businesses|title=Talent, Phoenix wakes up to decimation|author=Zavala, Joe|publisher=Mail Tribune|access-date=September 10, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/10/us/satellite-images-oregon-wildfire-trnd/index.html|title=Satellite images show Phoenix and Talent, Oregon, have been nearly wiped out by wildfire|author=Murphy, Paul P.|date=September 10, 2020|publisher=CNN|access-date=September 10, 2020}}</ref> On September 11, 2020, authorities said they were preparing for a [[mass fatality incident]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.koin.com/news/wildfires/oregon-wildfires-kate-brown-press-conference-09112020/|title=Oregon preparing for 'mass fatality incident' in wildfire recovery|date=September 11, 2020}}</ref> On September 11, it was reported that 600 homes and 100 commercial buildings were destroyed by the Almeda Drive Fire,<ref name="RRS911">Benda, David. "[https://www.redding.com/story/news/local/2020/09/10/almeda-fire-southern-oregon-two-confirmed-dead-600-homes-destroyed-damaged/3456818001/ Southern Oregon wildfires update: 700-plus homes, businesses destroyed as officials' investigate fire's cause]", ''[[Redding Record Searchlight]]''. September 11, 2020. Retrieved September 11, 2020.</ref> but on September 18, that number was updated to 2,800.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://mailtribune.com/news/top-stories/sheriff-more-than-2800-structures-burned-damaged-in-almeda-fire|title=Sheriff: More than 2,800 structures destroyed by Almeda fire|author=Aldous, Vickie|date=September 18, 2020|newspaper=Mail Tribune|access-date=October 28, 2020}}</ref> Officials stated that the Almeda Drive Fire was human-caused.<ref name="RRS911"/> On September 11, a man was arrested for arson, for allegedly starting a fire that destroyed multiple homes in Phoenix and merged with the Almeda Drive Fire.<ref name="Deliso">Deliso, Merideth. "[https://abcnews.go.com/US/man-charged-arson-connection-almeda-fire-southern-oregon/story?id=72960208 Man charged with arson in connection with Almeda Fire in southern Oregon]", [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]. September 11, 2020. Retrieved September 12, 2020.</ref> A separate criminal investigation into the origin point of the Almeda Drive Fire in Ashland was ongoing as of September 2020.<ref name="Deliso"/>