Burnout Done on Lava-Field Fire S. of Bend

Fire crews completed a burnout Wednesday on a 47-acre wildfire in a stand of trees encircled by lava northwest of Lava Butte, and fire managers said that should mean much less of the smoke that billowed into Bend Wednesday morning.

“It’s looking really good,” said Lisa Clark of the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center in Prineville.

A 10-acre burnout finished burning the island of Ponderosa pine trees on Incident 440, about 2 1/2 miles northwest of Lava Butte, she said, and “we should be down to a few heavy logs smoldering” from this point on.

“There should not be anywhere near the smoke we’ve had last night and today,” Clark added.

The fire and its tall smoke plume prompted numerous calls to NewsChannel 21 and Deschutes County 911 Tuesday evening.

Clark said the fire was reported around 2:50 p.m. Tuesday by the Lava Butte Lookout and was burning about three miles south of Bend in a remote, walk-in area of about 70 acres of Ponderosa pine, completely surrounded by lava.

The cause was under investigation, Clark said Wednesday, but it’s believed to be human-caused, because no lightning had been reported in the area recently.

The island of trees east of the Deschutes River had not burned in many decades, she said, and thus has accumulated a large amount of downed woody debris and deep duff.

Because of that debris, crews focused suppression efforts on the sides of the fire as it approached the edge of the lava field, Clark said.

The fire originally was backing through the area, but an evening wind shift pushed the fire toward the southern end of the island, eventually burning about 60 of the 70 acres.

Clark said Wednesday’s plans called for cleaning up the other 10 acres that haven’t burned and to keep mopping up the edge of the fire, where it approached the lava flow. A Type III helicopter was available to provide bucket drops of water, to assist in mop-up efforts.

Smoke from the fire is likely to be visible from Bend, Highway 97 and recreation sites in the area for several days, she said..

Clark said Tuesday evening said it’s likely to put up smoke for a couple of days, and will be monitored until it burns itself out.

“We’ll have a crew on it overnight and as long as needed,” Clark said.

At the closest, she said, the fire was about 2 1/2 to 3 miles south of Deschutes River Woods, where concern over wildfires is at its peak.

“It will look a lot closer at night,” she warned. “There will be a glow out there.”

The cause was not known, but Clark noted the area apparently is accessible by an ATV trail and is near a power line, and can be walked into.

Because of the rocky terrain within the island and the related safety issues, crews won’t be sent into the center to mop up hot spots.