Summer Ends With Wildfires Blazing on High Desert

It has been a busy week full of fires in Central Oregon, and Wednesday night was no different. With more than a thousand lightning strikes in just one hour, brushfires were sparking up everywhere. As new blazes cropped up, they added to the several other big ones burning in recent days.

Throughout the week, firefighters worked through the night to contain blazes around the region from Madras area, to Burns and just recently south of Bend. Fire officials said this is a time when they stress people be extra cautious.

“It’s definitely been a trend lately it seems,” said Central Oregon Fire Team member, Lisa Clark. “Most of the fires we’ve had over the past few weeks have been human caused fires.”

As fire danger moved to extreme recently, more blazes are igniting around the region.

Smoke blanketed much of Bend Wednesday, as a 47-acre blaze cropped up south of town. The flames are in an island of Ponderosa pine, contained fully within an old lava flow.

“The lava is pretty solid around this area, so it actually acted as a containment line before firefighters even got there,” Clark said.

Smoke west of Madras still filled the sky, even though the 1,000 acre Elk Lake Fire was fully contained Wednesday night.

“There will be hot spots that pop up on the interior for quite some time,” Clark said. “We do have a couple engines out there, so we’ll definitely keep that in patrol status for quite some time.”

Firefighters are also working on a blaze six miles south of the mouth of the Lower Deschutes River. It has burned 1,500 acres and it’s about 80 percent contained.

“It only grew about three acres yesterday, so we’re looking at getting containment on that one today or tomorrow,” Clark said.

North of Burns, east of Highway 395, the Theimer II Wildfire is has burned 300 acres. Fire officials said they have determined the blaze was caused by arson. Crews continued securing containment lines and mop up on Wednesday.

While the end of summer is a big draw for camping, hiking and outdoor use, it’s also a time to be on alert.

“Anything you’re doing that causes a spark, whether you’re smoking in the woods, using a chain saw, you have a campfire, use extra caution,” Clark said. “Follow any of the fire restrictions that are out there, have a fun but safe time out in the woods.”

Firefighters were already pre-positioned around the High Desert, ready to respond to any new starts as lightning continued to strike into the night.