Crews mop up Bessie Butte Fire; China Hat Rd. reopens

(Update: Bessie Butte Fire at 25 percent containment, China Hat Road reopens to public)

The Bessie Butte Fire southeast of Bend reached 25 percent containment Monday as crews spent the day mopping up and putting out hot spots, enabling officials to reopen China Hat Road.

Although it’s uncertain when full containment will happen. Kassidy Kern, public affairs specialist for Central Oregon Fire Management Service, said Monday they hope to have the fire fully contained soon.

“The priority of our firefighters and our public is our No. 1,” Kern said. “So for us, it’s just a matter of saying, ‘What’s it going to take to get there?’ So we’re getting some crews in, we have some water tenders and some engines on the fire right now, and they’ll continue that work until those numbers hit 100 percent.”

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

People living near the fire said this is the sort of thing they expect, living in Central Oregon.

Stella Larson said she makes sure to keep a two-acre defensible space around her home, which butts up against the forest.

“We are always prepared to leave,” Larson said. “So we have our stuff with the little tag on it. We just prepare as everyone should, because we all live in a very, very, very fire-vulnerable environment here.”

“You know, developers as they develop the urban wildlife interface also need to have good fire plans and be aware of the materials they’re using,” she added. “Because we are so vulnerable here, and the only way we can attack that vulnerability is with preparedness.”

Lines held overnight on the fire that broke out at midday Sunday near Bessie Butte, about eight miles southeast of Bend. It sent up a smoke plume visible across the area as winds pushed it to the south and drew a swift air and ground attack that had it encircled by late afternoon.

The fire was spotted shortly after noon Sunday by the Lava Butte lookout. By late afternoon, it had burned about 50 acres in a mix of brush, grass and Ponderosa pine, BLM public affairs officer Lisa Clark said.

By mid-afternoon, there were seven engines, one 20-person crew, a bulldozer, a water tender, two single-engine air tankers (SEAT planes) and an air tanker “hitting this one hard,” officials said in a tweet. More crews were being called up as well.

The large and small air tankers were flying south from Redmond Air Center and back north to reload for another run.

Around 5 p.m. Central Oregon fire officials said on their Twitter feed that crews had “stopped the forward progress” of the fire and had bulldozer line around 40 percent of the blaze and hose laid around the rest.

By 6 p.m., the fire was encircled by a bulldozer line and a GPS hike around the perimeter determined the fire had burned 50 acres.

While much of Bend saw the fire early on, it was one set of eyes, at the Lava Butte fire lookout that was crucial in the fast, successful attack.

“A fire like this, being so close to Bend, it is going to have a lot of eyes on it,” Forest Service spokeswoman Kassidy Kern said. “This is why Lava Butte Lookout is very critical.”

“The individual who staffs that lookout was able to catch this fire,” Kern said. “We were able to respond to it very quickly and get the air support we need.”Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies had noted northerly winds were pushing the fire south, away from town and toward a fire scar at Bessie Butte. “No homes are threatened at this time,” they said.

Though winds were pushing the fire away from town, its proximity still had residents on Bend’s south side understandably apprehensive.

“So scary — it’s one mile from my house,” April Lucas wrote, sharing a photo if a passing air tanker with NewsChannel 21. “Really hoping it’s being contained.”

“We were going through our home preparing for the worst. It’s a sick feeling,” Lucas added. “Our property backs to national forest, and seeing the smoke so close, knowing it just takes a shift of wind.”