10 brushfires ignite along Hwy. 97 S. of Bend

Ten small brushfires broke out within minutes and miles of each other on the east side of Highway 97 south of Bend late Tuesday afternoon, sending police and fire crews scrambling to get them out and divert traffic.

Investigators said later that very hot pieces of a catalytic converter from a motor home’s failed exhaust system had blown into the brush and ignited each of the fires, most of which were caught small.

The first reports, from China Hat and Baker north to Murphy roads, came in around 4:35 p.m. as numerous motorists pulled over to call Deschutes County dispatchers on what they were seeing east of the northbound side of the busy highway.

Deschutes County sheriff’s Sgt. Aaron Harding saw one fire begin burning up the embankment toward the Baker Road overpass, which ended up closing for about two hours.

Even before crews arrived, several passing motorists pulled over to not only report the fire but grab shovels and try tackling them themselves, fully dousing one of them.

Residents who live along China Hat Road gathered about 200 feet away to watch the blaze and efforts to douse it.

“The flames were close, and I did see a couple (of trees) flame out where the fire started at the base,” Bob Coltrane said.

“There wasn’t a lot of imminent danger, I don’t think,” Coltrane said. “Most of us were curious, but not overly concerned.”

Winds gusting close to 30 mph fanned the fires, the largest of which burned about five acres near China Hat Road, said Deputy Fire Marshal Dan Derlacki.

Derlacki said a total of 10 ignitions were found along the edge of the highway — at least one piece was found at each location. Most of the fires were kept small, but four got larger, the biggest reaching five acres in size, Derlacki said.

The motor home was located a short distance away, Harding said, adding that the driver cooperated fully with the investigation. No charges have been filed against the driver, he added.

Northbound Highway 97 traffic was diverted onto Knott Road for hours, until it reopened around 7 p.m.

Mutual aid help rushed in from La Pine and Sunriver, as well as the Oregon Department of Forestry and U.S. Forest Service.

There were no evacuations, and the fire lookout at Lava Butte saw no other fires about 40 minutes after the four broke out.

A retardant drop was considered but was not conducted; instead, a spotter plane circled the area to help fire crews on the ground working along the highway shoulder.

Other agencies that helped with the incident included Bend police, Oregon State Police, the U.S. Forest Service, La Pine Rural Fire Department, the Oregon Department of Forestry, the county Road Department, county forester and ODOT.

A total of about six acres burned in the fires, which broke out on land owned by J.L. Ward Company. Derlacki said the property owner had done extensive fuel reduction over the years, limbing tree branches and thinning brush.

That work “reduced the intensity of the fire spread and allowed fire crews to keep it to the size it grew to, even in the high winds we had today,” Derlacki said.

“Without this work, many homes would have been threatened,” he said, “as the fire would have had much more fuel to burn and could have moved much quicker.”

The fires also proved a potent reminder that fire season is far from over and the woods and brush are still very dry. Public use restrictions and Industrial Fire Precaution Level III are still in place for federal lands, the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center noted.