Three Jefferson County fires in hours prompt reminder
Jefferson County Fire District No. 1 crews responded to three fires in a matter of hours on Monday, prompting a reminder that fire danger is on the rise in the region, along with the temperatures.
Crews were called around 11:30 a.m. to a reported house fire in the 500 block of Southeast 10th Street in Madras, Fire Chief/Marshal Brian Huff said.
They arrived to find a fire between and starting to burn partly-covered small carport-type structure and an old camp trailer, Huff said. The first crew on scene quickly knocked down the fire, stopping its advance.
As crews cleaned up and were released from that scene came a call of a brush in the area of Southwest Waldorf Lane, south of Madras, the fire chief said. Huff said he responded, along with a water tender and a brush truck.
They arrived to find a small, smoldering pile next to two burn barrels in the 2500 block of Southwest Panorama Drive. Firefighters put out the escaped burn-barrel fire and issued the homeowner a notice of violation for burning when not allowed.
Huff noted that Central Oregon has entered the summer ban on burning, and reminded residents to check with their fire agency before igniting any fires on your property or at your favorite campsite.
Just before 2 p.m., crews were dispatched to a brush fire with possible trailer on fire at milepost 114 on U.S. Highway 26, north of Madras, near the OSU agricultural research station, Huff said.
They arrived to find about a half-acre fire along the highway and a U-Haul car trailer tire fire. A total of 11 personnel, including seven volunteer firefighters, were called out and put out the fires, helped by an ODOT incident response crew who used a dry chemical extinguisher on the tire fire, keeping it from spreading to other parts of the trailer
Jefferson County EMS assisted with crews on standby at all three fires, Huff said. Madras police assisted on the first blaze and Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies on the other two.
With the warmer weather and fire danger, Huff urged residents to ” please be careful around areas where fires could spread. ”
