Bend FD: Fire started by child playing with matches

(Update: Bend-area fire sparked by child with matches; new fire near Sprague River destroys outbuildings, vehicles; new 30-acre fire east of Hampton off Hwy. 20)

A field fire that burned about 1/3 of an acre east of Bend off Neff Road Tuesday afternoon was caused by a juvenile playing with matches, authorities said. Meanwhile, crews tackled a small new wildfire at Wickiup Reservoir as temperatures soared into the mid to upper 90s, starting an expected week-long heat wave.

Bend fire crews responded around 2:45 p.m. to an address in the 22000 block Neff Road on the reported field fire, Battalion Chief Dave Russell said. They arrived to find about a 1/3 acre grass fire, moving slowly due to irrigation.

Neighbors jumped into action to knock down the blaze before firefighters arrived.

“We grabbed the hose and turned on all the sprinklers,” Karla Braude said. “Brandi went to grab a shovel — her son actually went to grab a shovel, and I started spraying the back towards the chicken coop, and she started to take the shovel and put out the fire with the shovel by beating it out.”

Russell said the fire department wants to remind parents to talk with their kids about the dangers of matches and lighters.

“Fire can be a useful tool, but a very dangerous toy,” the battalion chief said, noting that the heat and strong winds means “fires will spread very rapidly and can have devastating consequences.

Meanwhile, Incident 783 at Wickiup Reservoir was reported at a quarter-acre around 2:15 p.m. and had three engines and an aircraft responding. Central Oregon fire officials said crews had slowed the fires forward progress.

Crews responded to another new wildfire late Tuesday that burned about 30 acres near milepost 76 of Highway 20, 12 miles east of Hampton. ODOT TripCheck indicated the fire was causing no to minimum delays, and officials said forward progress was stopped before 6:30 p.m.

The 50-acre Bessie Butte Fire that broke out Sunday 8 miles southeast of Bend was 35 percent contained by late Monday, with more progress seen Tuesday.

Officials noted there are 16 large fires burning in the Northwest, covering about 100,000 acres. Two complexes of fires were being tackled in southwest Oregon, the 11,500-acre Garner Complex northeast of Grants Pass and the 5,000-acre South Umpqua Complex.

With many worried about smoky skies and air quality impacts, officials stated a simple fact: “When the wind blows our way, we get their smoke!”

Also, public use and campfire restrictions took effect Tuesday on public lands across Central Oregon.

There also was a new Klamath County fire reported Tuesday afternoon — the Drews Fire, east of the town of Sprague River, which had burned about 35 acres and destroyed several outbuildings and vehicles, according to the Klamath County Sheriff’s Office. More details were due alter.

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Here’s the 11 a.m. Tuesday update on the Garner Complex of fires:

Overnight, firefighters continued to make great progress on containing the Garner Complex Fire. Today’s day shift will continue to secure and hold control lines by strengthening hand-built and dozer lines, placing water hoses, and continuing mop-up operations.

Firefighters will also be setting fire inside the control lines to consume fuel between the fire line and actively burning areas of the fire, weather permitting. The Office of State Fire Marshal’s structural crews continue to assess and create defensible spaces around homes and other structures on the Grave and Taylor Creek Fires.

The fire continues to slowly burn within the interior of those lines, leading to a growth of 2,075 acres. As smoke conditions allow, air support will be dropping water and retardant on the south and west sides of the Taylor, Pleasant, and Graves Fires. Spencer Creek Fire is holding within control lines and mop-up continues.

The weather forecast projects continued hot and dry conditions. Winds will have a west-northwesterly flow at 5 to 10 miles per hour. Smoke will be gradually lifting today, resulting in increasing temperatures and lowering of humidity. As a result, firefighters will likely see elevated fire activity.

The estimated containment is 15% and 17,369 acres.

Acreages by fire: Grave Creek/Sec.14 6,546; Pleasant Creek 784; Ditch Creek 169; Taylor Creek 9,642; Spencer Creek 228.

A public meeting will be held in Wimer Tuesday, July 24 at 6:00 P.M., located at Ev-ans Valley Education and Community Center, 8205 East Evans Creek.

And a 4 p.m. Tuesday update on the individual fires:

The Grave Creek Fire is at 6,546 acres. Much of the northern half of the fire has dozer lines, hand lines, or roads holding the fire in check. Today, fire fighters will work on completing construction of hand and dozer lines in mostly the southern and southeastern portions of the fire. Securing, holding, and patrolling containment lines are on-going around much of the fire. Assigned resources are: 37 crews, 27 engines, 21 heavy equipment, and overhead.

The Pleasant Fire is at 784 acres. Yesterday, the fire crossed over the containment line and burned a 30-40 acre area near Battle Mountain. Crews are working today to put a fire line around it and bring that portion back inside the fire line perimeter. Aircraft are planned to be active in this area. Most of the fire perimeter is secured by roads or dozer lines. In areas where there are unburned fuels between the fire perimeter and control lines or roads, Hot Shot crews are performing burnouts. Last night, an unmanned drone flew the fire and detected a new fire start. Crews were able to immediately react and put it out. Assigned resources are: 4 crews, 5 engines, 6 heavy equipment, and overhead.

The Taylor Fire is at 9,624 acres and still very active, however progressing slowly. It has burned south to the Shan Creek. Due to the topography, fire managers have taken a more indirect approach. There are primary and secondary control lines being built around the entire fire. The fire is burning towards those lines. Once lines are constructed, and the lines are reduced of excessive fuels, and plumbed with hose and fittings ahead of planned burn out operations. There was very little spread last night. Assigned resources are: 23 crews, 13 engines, 13 heavy equipment, and overhead.

The Ditch Creek Fire is at 169 acres. This fire is relatively unchanged. It is secured with a fire line all the way around the perimeter. Assigned resources are: 5 crews, 4 engines, 7 heavy equipment, and overhead.

The Spencer Fire is at 228 acres and has a secured fire line around the entire perimeter. There is one engine assigned to patrol and monitor.

The Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal Task Forces of structural engines have triaged and prepped over 500 structures. To date, no structures have been lost. Currently, there are nine OSFM Task Forces at the Taylor and Pleasant Creek Fires.

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Here’s the 9 a.m. Tuesday update on the Timber Crater 6 Fire:

Crater Lake National Park, OR – At 15% containment and with 588 people assigned, Timber Crater 6 fire managers are pleased with progress to date in keeping the fire to the smallest size possible with a reasonable probability of success. Acreage is steady at 2355 acres.

Weather: Humidity is inching higher than previous levels and is now in the mid 20% to low 30% range. Again, there is a notable possibility of thunderstorms in the late afternoon and early evening. Overnight humidity recovery has been good across the fire and is expected to continue. Through Saturday, temperatures in the mid to high 80s will persist, and light northwest winds are expected.

Yesterday : Hot shot crews made good progress on the north and west sides of the fire, working direct along the fire edge. Crews on other areas of the fire successfully completed mop up, secured lines after the burnouts, and did burnout work ahead of the fire’s east side. Aircraft water drops were limited due to poor visibility.

Plans for Today: To secure the fire, crews will continue burnouts to the southeast. In addition, they will construct line on the south, west and northwest; hold and secure previous burnout areas to the west and south; and mop up to the east.

Visibility permitting, two CL415s – fixed wing water bomber planes — may be scooping from Crescent, Lost Creek and Miller Lakes to make water drops – not retardant drops – in the park. They may be assisted by a type one and a type 3 helicopter. For safety reasons, recreationists on these lakes may be asked to leave the water in the event scooping operations take place.

Smoke: The majority of smoke visible in Crater Lake National Park is from the many fires burning across the Northwest Region that are producing smoke depending on prevailing winds. At times, this has resulted in reduced visibility and lower air quality. This pattern will continue as long as fires to the west of Crater Lake National Park can be extinguished. The Timber Crater 6 Fire and strategic burn operations have generated smoke that has flowed toward Hwy. 97. A smoke monitor will be installed near the rim of Crater Lake.

Closures/Restrictions: At this time the Timber Crater 6 Fire is not a threat to park attractions or to visitors. All areas in the Crater Lake National Park are open. There are no road closures related to the fire in the park. Please respect all park fire restrictions. Campfires are only allowed in established grills or designated campfire rings in Mazama Campground. The Emergency Forest Closure for portions of the Fremont-Winema National Forest remains in effect. Check the Forest web page for details. https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/fremont-winema/home

Fire managers want park guests to have a fun and safe experience in the Crater Lake National Park. Visitors should expect to see large firefighting equipment on roadways. Please drive slowly and use extra caution as fire vehicles may stop in unexpected locations, and if backing, the operator of the equipment may not be able to see smaller passenger vehicles in their mirrors.

Follow Us : https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5986/ or the Crater Lake National Park Facebook page and https://swojic.blogspot.com