SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) — More than 7,700 firefighters are still working on the 20 large fires still burning across Oregon, but Oregon Department of Forestry authorities said Monday they are “optimistic” the cooler weather means we’ve turnedg the corner on a fire season in which nearly 2 million acres have burned. ODF Incident Management Teams
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Redmond police sought the public’s help Monday and have stepped up surveillance while they look for a male suspect in a string of fires intentionally set in the city’s popular Dry Canyon over the past 10 days, all caught and doused by fire crews at small sizes, but sparking neighbors’ worry.
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About 800 firefighters kept busy in Sunday’s cool, cloudy weather building and securing containment lines and conducting burnout operations on the Little Lava, Flat Top and Firestone fires, officials said.
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BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — The Deschutes National Forest said Saturday it has updated and decreased the temporary emergency fire closure area on the Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District for the Bachelor Complex. The Bachelor Complex includes Little Lava Fire and Backside Fire as well as 30+ smaller fires within the area around Mt. Bachelor. Bachelor Complex
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Continued progress on the Little Lava Fire led to some reduced evacuation levels for nearby residents and businesses on Friday, with Mt. Bachelor being placed in “normal” status, allowing fall operations to resume Saturday, a week after the lightning-sparked fire began.
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BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — The Deschutes National Forest announced Thursday it has updated and enlarged two temporary emergency fire closure areas on the Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District due to the Bachelor Complex, Flat Top Fire and Firestone Fire. The Bachelor Complex includes the Little Lava Fire and Backside Fire, as well as 30+ smaller fires within
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Mt. Bachelor, which evacuated and halted fall operations when the Backside Fire arose west of the resort last weekend, will hold off until at least Saturday to reopen, continuing to review the firefighting situation on a daily basis, officials said Thursday.
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After five days of the Little Lava Fire racing across 10,000 acres and advancing miles a day toward populated areas, evacuation zones are being held steady for now, but a favorable change in the weather has helped firefighters stop its forward progress, and that’s boosting hopes people won’t have to leave.
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The cooler, wetter weather has given firefighters on the previously fast-moving Little Lava Fire the upper hand, and that means downgraded or lifted evacuation levels for Sunriver and thousands of nearby homes in southern Deschutes County, emergency managers said Thursday.
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SUNRIVER, Ore. (KTVZ) – It was standing room only Wednesday night at Three Rivers Elementary School as hundreds of concerned residents were eager to learn more about the wildfire threatening to force evacuations, as well as fire safety, wildfire prevention and emergency response strategies. At Three Rivers School, the various agencies involved in the fight to
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PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality issued an air quality advisory Wednesday for the following areas due to smoke from fires in Oregon: Deschutes County Grant County Wheeler County DEQ expects the air quality advisory to last until at least Friday morning. DEQ and partner agencies will continue to monitor smoke in
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SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) – The Oregon State Fire Marshal mobilized resources to the Service Fire in Wheeler County overnight as the fire, pushed by gusty winds and critical fire conditions, rapidly grew Monday. The lightning-sparked fire was estimated to be 15,000 acres as of Monday night. The Wheeler County Sheriff’s Office has issued levels 1, 2, and
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PRINEVILLE, Ore. (KTVZ) — In coordination with the Crook County Sheriff’s Office, the Ochoco National Forest is expanding the Maury Mountains closure area. This decision follows increased fire activity on the western flank of the Wiley Flat Fire, making the expanded closure necessary to ensure public safety and allow firefighters to continue their work without
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BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Bend and Alfalfa firefighters put out a brush fire in the woods near Bear Creek Road east of Bend Tuesday afternoon that investigators said apparently was caused by a lightning strike to a tree that had been smoldering but was not previously spotted in the area’s smoky skies. Bend Fire &
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The Little Lava Fire kept on growing and putting up a large smoke plume Tuesday as Deschutes County emergency managers once again expanded the Level 3, 2 and 1 evacuation zones to include more populated areas south of Bend — including Sunriver raising to Level 2, “Be Set” to leave at a moment’s notice.
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BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Several days of this lingering smoky haze are taking a toll on people and businesses in downtown Bend. Smoke from the recent wildfires, like the Little Lava and Backside fires, have become a new if troubling normal for residents. But of visitors like Laney Conger, from Montana, she finds the smoke troubling. “Had
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SISTERS, Ore. (KTVZ) – Two growing wildfires on the Willamette National Forest west of Sisters have now prompted the closures of both state Highways 126 and 242, the McKenzie Pass Highway, ODOT said Tuesday morning. Due to increasing activity on the nearly 150-acre Boulder Creek Fire burning east of Highway 126, crews closed Highway 126
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BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Wildfires have become an annual occurrence in the region, exacerbated by prolonged drought conditions, and this year has been especially challenging across the state and region. In recent weeks, intense wildfires raging across Oregon have not only devastated large swaths of forest and residential areas but have also led to significant
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A Redmond native and Bend business owner, now retired and living “off the grid” just outside of Chiloquin, lost everything to the Copperfield Fire, one of eight homes and 22 other buildings destroyed by the blaze.
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SISTERS, Ore. (KTVZ) — A Sisters Country resident lost his fifth-wheel trailer home, pickup and beloved dog to a fire over Labor Day weekend, but the community has provided an outpouring of support to help the man get back on his feet, Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District officials said Monday. Here’s a news release about the
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