Lightning sparks new wildfires; largest near Tumalo Creek

(Update: Tumalo Creek Fire at 5 acres, others under an acre)

Wednesday night’s thunderstorms brought eight new lightning sparked-fires around Central Oregon, the largest having burned about five acres west of Bend by nightfall.

Crews on the ground and retardant planes in the air tackled the Tumalo Creek Fire, which broke out in the late afternoon and burned five acres, according to a report from Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch said in a tweet around 9 p.m.

Elsewhere, Incident 827, just south of Hosmer Lake, was less than an acre, as were the other half-dozen new blazes, officials said.

But fire managers and crews were not breathing easy, with a continued red flag warning for dangerous fire weather conditions and more storms expected until late Thursday.

Officials said the Tumalo Creek Fire was burning near Tam McArthur Rim on the Deschutes National Forest.

Retardant drops were used to help ground crews stop its spread. Officials said no structures were threatened, and the fire was outside the city of Bend’s watershed.

Shortly after 6 p.m., fire managers said crews were “making great progress” on the Tumalo Creek Fire and that aerial resources also were called to Incident 827, near Elk Lake, with more crews en route.

The National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning, in effect from 4 p.m. Wednesday to 8 p.m. Thursday, for scattered thunderstorms producing abundant lightning on dry fuels.