C.O. fire crews busy over holiday weekend

Firefighters were kept busy with several blazes around the region over the Memorial Day weekend.

A fire at a reported transient camp off Sockeye Place in northeast Bend on Monday morning burned a tent, tree and a small area of brush, officials and witnesses said.

Officials believe cooking might have sparked the fire.

Around the same time, numerous engine crews responded to a reported brushfire in the area of SW Cinder Drive and Cinder Cone Loop in Crooked River Ranch.

On Sunday afternoon, Crook County Fire and Rescue responded around 2:15 p.m. to a reported fire in a camp trailer near Bonnie Road in the Juniper Canyon area southeast of Prineville.

Crews arrived to find several outbuldings and trailers ablaze, officials said. T wo structural engines, a BLM wildland engine, two water tenders and an ambulance responded to the scene.

The fire, which burned about 3/4 of an acre, took about 30 minutes to contain, officials said, but crews were on scene mopping up until 5:15 p.m.

The Norman family said their two camper-trailers and shed and other belongings burned in the blaze, but fortunately it never reached their house and no one was injured, the grateful family said.

Katelyn and Railey Norman said they were home at the time, as their parents had just left for the store. They were able to get away quickly and stay safe at a neighbor’s home. They also were able to help rescue their pets from the fire, which the family said caused about $40,000 to $50,000 in losses.

“So what happened at first is Katelyn said, ‘You see those flames?’ and I said ‘No’ and I looked out the window and huge flames were out there,” Railey Norman said.

The cause of the fire was under investigation, but officials said it likely began in one of the outbuildings.