A weekend of cooler weather and some widespread rainfall helped a still-growing army of nearly 2,600 firefighters on the 113,000-acre Cedar Creek Fire conduct burnout work and build fire lines, to reach their first containment figure in days, at 11%, officials said Monday
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A sprinkler system stopped a kitchen fire in its tracks at a northeast Bend apartment Saturday evening, but the resulting water and smoke damage displaced six residents of five nearby apartments until cleanup is completed, officials said.
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A fire destroyed a Tumalo-area manufactured home late Saturday afternoon, and the American Red Cross was called in to assist the renter, who did not have insurance, officials said.
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There are now more than 1,800 firefighters assigned to the Cedar Creek Fire, sparked by lightning over a month ago. The fire that ignited August 1 has been challenging for firefighters, while officials explain why it wasn’t stopped quicker in its small, early stages.
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Recent cool weather across the Oregon Department of Forestry’s Central Oregon District is not an indication that fire season is over, the agency reminded Wednesday.
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As the Cedar Creek firefighting ranks swelled past 1,800, Gov. Kate Brown said Wednesday she’s asked President Biden to issue a federal emergency declaration for the state due to extreme risk of significant wildfires, with several burning around the state.
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A passing motorist early Wednesday morning spotted a fire that destroyed an apparently unoccupied mobile home on the Culver Highway in Madras, but fire crews were able to protect nearby homes and property, officials said.
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An apparent lightning strike to the roof ignited a fire in a large detached shop in La Pine late Monday afternoon, also blowing out a nearby transformer and knocking out power to the block, fire officials said.
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The Deschutes National Forest said Tuesday it has expanded its forest closure order for the Cedar Creek Fire to create more efficient firefighting operations on the eastern zone of the fire and due to increasing fire growth on the southern tip of Waldo Lake and in the Cultus Lake area.
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A pickup crash into dry vegetation on U.S. Highway 26 north of Madras Monday afternoon sent the driver to the hospital and sparked a wildfire that crews stopped at about an acre.
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Fire crews staying and working at Mt. Bachelor have a common mission, outside of putting out the Cedar Creek Fire entirely. It’s to stop the fire from going farther east — and at the same time, to be as prepared as possible to protect lives, homes and property, in case it does.
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An army of firefighters from across the nation is helping battle the 6-week-old Cedar Creek Fire that exploded in weekend heat and winds to nearly 87,000 acres and forced evacuations, power outages and highway and forest closures. But cooler, calmer weather has improved conditions, officials said Monday as evacuation levels were lowered and thick smoke poured into communities east and west of the fire.
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Extreme fire behavior and strong winds made for another big run by the Cedar Creek Fire east of Oakridge on Saturday, putting up towering pyrocumulus smoke clouds, along with lightning, forcing continued evacuations and breaching lines, prompting a rollback to zero containment of the 6-week-old blaze.
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By RACHEL LA CORTE Associated Press OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — There were 18 large fires burning in Oregon and Washington Saturday, leading to evacuations and targeted power outages in Oregon as the challenge of dry and windy conditions continued in the region. According to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center, there are nearly 406 square miles
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The Oakridge and Westfir areas were evacuated Friday evening and a Highway 58 closure was lengthened 57 miles in the face of the Cedar Creek Fire as predicted windy conditions also sparked other wildfires around the Northwest that forced people to also flee their homes.
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Fire crews are setting up two incident command centers at Mt. Bachelor. Their locations change according to fire conditions. About 800 firefighters are expected to arrive Friday and Saturday. Heavy firefighting equipment also was moved in the area on Friday. Fire officials are going to bring in tents and RVs for crews to sleep in at Bachelor. Fire
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Days of hot, windy weather have caused the Cedar Creek Fire to nearly double in size, topping 31,000 acres, officials said Thursday after fire crews wrapped Cultus Lake Lodge in aluminum wrap and widened the Level 3 evacuation to include a wide area ahead of another red flag warning.
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As firefighters tackle numerous new lightning-sparked fires around the High Desert, the growth of the Cedar Creek Fire by Waldo Lake, last reported at over 18,000 acres, prompted Deschutes County emergency managers to evacuate Crane Prairie Reservoir and other nearby areas Wednesday.
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Some southern Bend residents said they were awakened late Tuesday night by the sound of propane tanks exploding from a fire in a transient camp area off China Hat Road that officials said burned a camper and was stopped at 1/10th of an acre.
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SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon firefighters will face challenges this week as continued heat combines with windy and unstable conditions, possible thunderstorms and unwanted east winds, fire meteorologists said. Forecasters said the concern isn’t on the same level as the 2020 Labor Day fires east wind event, but there is concern about active wildfires near
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