More Private Land Burns as Heat Returns

A fire burning on the Hay Creek Ranch property — private, unprotected rangeland about 15 miles east of Madras — has blackened an estimated 900 acres.

Hay Creek Ranch workers and some people from the Oregon Department of Forestry were out where the fire was burning a little more intensely Thursday, trying to build a line around the back side of it and burn off some material.

The entire blaze is burning on private land, outside of every fire jurisdiction, leaving the landowners more or less on their own.

Ranch workers put out hotspots with shovels, while other bring water out to the front line. Scorched land extends back from the farmhouse into the hills the dry grass speeding the spread of the fire.

The ranch owner told me he’s not quite sure how the fire got started.

Fires like this rarely get going until the temperatures rise. But entering our first long stretch of hot days this summer on the High Desert, all it takes is a spark.

“As the temperatures increase, the risk goes up,” said Redmond Fire Marshal Traci Cooper.

“Right now it looks like a long string of hot dry days,” said NewsChannel 21 Chief Meteorologist Bob Shaw.

Another fire burned Thursday burned Thursday morning, just north of Terrebonne, near the Ogden Wayside State Park. It showed that spark can come from almost anything.

“It appears maybe that one of the Burlington Northern trains might of come through, sparked it,” Cooper said. “There were some old (railroad) ties there near the area. Fire got into that, but crews were able to get it extinguished.”.

This fire was quickly brought under control, only growing to about 300 square feet. But with the dry heat of summer finally under way, it takes just one spark to go from small spot fires to something far more serious.