Firefighters’ air, ground fight slows 250-acre wildfire SE of Redmond Airport that shut airfield, prompted evacuations
(Update: New acreage, crews have slowed fire's spread)
REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) – A wind-fanned wildfire broke out amid very hot, dry conditions south of Highway 126 and southeast of Redmond Airport Saturday afternoon, closing the airport as it raced across 250 acres by evening while prompting Level 3 GO NOW evacuations, but a major air and ground attack slowed its spread before nightfall.
Incident 353, named the McCaffery Fire for McCaffery Road in the area the fire began, was reported shortly after 2 p.m. on Prineville BLM-managed land near the Deschutes/Crook county line, east of Redmond and west of Powell Butte.
Several Forest Service and BLM crews responded to assist Redmond firefighters during the afternoon, along with two single-engine air tankers (SEAT planes) to drop retardant, joined structural-protection task forces.
Three Large Air Tankers (LATs) were helping firefighters on the ground, which also included private crews and a bulldozer, officials said early Saturday evening. They added that the fire at last report was still three miles from any structures.
Around 7:25 p.m., officials said in an update that "retardant drops have slowed the spread of the fire. Dozers and engine crews are working on flanking the fire at this time."
Earlier, Redmond Airport said in a posting atop its website that the "airport is closed until further notice due to adjacent wildfire fighting efforts." They urged travelers to check with your air carrier directly for flight status updates and any cancellations.
Officials said the airport's airfield was closing "until further notice to dedicate air space to aerial firefighting efforts just east of the airfield." However, they said the terminal remained open.
The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office issued an initial Level 3 GO NOW evacuation notice shortly before 3 p.m. for SE Sunny Sage Way off McCaffery Road.
The Deschutes and Crook County sheriff's offices issued a wider evacuation alert around 5:20 p.m.:
Due to fire activity in the area of McCaffery and Sherman Road, the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office and Crook County Sheriff's Office has issued the following evacuation notices.
Level 3 (Go Now!) Evacuation notice is issued for the following areas:
All residences on Sunny Sage Rd. off of McCaffery Rd. in Deschutes County.
West Powell Butte Estates and the area to the south to Powell Butte Hwy. in Crook County.
Level 3: means “GO” evacuate now. Leave immediately! Danger to your area is current or imminent, and you should evacuate immediately. If you choose to ignore this advisement, you must understand that emergency services may not be available to assist you further. DO NOT delay leaving to gather any belongings or make efforts to protect your home. This will be the last notice you receive.
A Temporary Evacuation Point is being established at the Powell Butte Church.
Large animals can be sheltered at the Crook County Fairgrounds.
Current maps including evacuation areas can be found at: https://deschutes.org/emergency
For fire information, you can visit the Central Oregon Fire information site at: www.centraloregonfire.org
Make sure you are registered for Deschutes Alerts to receive evacuation and emergency alert and warnings in your area by going to: www.deschutesalerts.org.
Crook County Sheriff John Gautney says Redmond Airport is giving priority traffic to fire aircraft. He said the fire was under the command of BLM, with a joint command with Prineville and Redmond Fire, the Oregon State Fire Marshal's Office and the Crook and Deschutes County sheriff's offices.
Pacific Power's outage map showed two "emergency de-energizations" in the area of the fire, affecting 176 customers. Crews were investigating a larger outage affecting 1,733 customers on Bend's south end.
