Small La Pine brushfire fought as burn nears end

A human-caused fire broke out and burned just over an acre of grass and brush in the La Pine area Tuesday afternoon, as crews west of La Pine continued a 730-acre prescribed burn on Lookout Mountain, authorities said.

Meanwhile, a thunderstorm moving north through Central Oregon Monday afternoon sparked seven small lightning-sparked fire, totaling less than an acre, and crews were able to quickly contain them, according to the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center in Prineville.

The human-caused fire, labeled Incident No. 123, was being fought in the Stearns Ranch area off Howard Lane, west of Wickiup Junction and north of Burgess Road.

The U.S. Forest Service, Oregon Department of Forestry and La Pine rural Fire District engine crews were on scene and reported making progress on containment lines, officials said. Firefighters will work into the night to contain the blaze and extinguish any hot spots. While the fire was burning mainly in grass and brush, there is some Ponderosa pine in the area, they said.

Meanwhile, the prescribed burn 10 miles west of La Pine in the Pringle Falls Experimental Forest continued for a second day Tuesday and is expected to be completed Wednesday, with patrols to continue afterward, COIDC reported.