Thunderstorms rumble through High Desert; crews tackle several small lightning-sparked fires as winds topple trees
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Thunderstorms that rumbled northward into Central Oregon Tuesday evening had firefighters responding to stop several small lightning-sparked blazes, while trees were downed in Crook County, officials and weather spotters said.
Three of the new fires, incidents 424, 426 and 427, were north of Davis Lake, each reported less than a quarter acres. Engines and hand crews were on scene, officials said.
Another blaze, Incident 425, was burning east of Alfalfa and estimated at about an acre. Officials said four engines were on scene, including the Alfalfa Rural Fire District.
Blustery winds accompanied the stormy weather, including gusts to 48 mph in Prineville and 43 mph in Redmond.
A National Weather Service spotter northeast of Prineville reported four large trees were toppled and estimated gusts to 55 mph, reporting a power outage as well.
About 3,000 Pacific Power customers were without power Tuesday night in the Prineville area, the utility said on its outage map.
Rain was falling in parts of Bend Tuesday night. Meanwhile, the High Desert's lengthy heat wave is not going away any time soon. NewsChannel 21 Chief Meteorologist John Carrollsays we're on pace for the hottest July on record, by nearly five degrees.
