Skip to Content

Calmer day helps C.O. crews catch up on wildfires

KTVZ

(Update: Quieter conditions help firefighters)

After three days of thunderstorms that had Central Oregon firefighters scrambling to put out dozens of small lighting-sparked wildfires, things got quieter on Sunday, as rain and cooler nighttime temperatures also helped crews out, officials said.

“All looking good this morning, and crews expect to wrap up existing fires,” the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center said in a Sunday morning tweet.

“With warmer and drier weather on tap for this week, crews will be ready for holdover fires and new reports,” the update added.

Later in the day, the WildCAD list of fire callouts showed just seven in the region so far Sunday — far fewer than in recent days, amid storms that also pelted the region with hail and heavy rain, causing crop damage in Tumalo and flash floods in the Powell Butte area.

Earlier story:

Friday night’s latest round of thunderstorms peppered Central Oregon with thousands of lightning strikes, and firefighters by Saturday morning had tackled 26 new wildfires, all but one held to very small size, officials said.

Crews elsewhere in Oregon continued to tackle a few larger fires as another round of storms threaten more lightning.

More than 100 new fires have been reported this week, officials said Saturday, with the vast majority held at less than a half-acre. Crews will continue patrols and can expect more “holdover” fires to pop up over the next couple of weeks.

Central Oregon dispatchers said the one new fire that grew larger was the Hollow Fire, which burned 160-180 acres in a remote area east of Prineville and southeast of the Maury Mountains. It was 80 percent contained by late Saturday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the day-old Battle Creek Fire, five miles southwest of Dayville, had burned about 115 acres, officials said, after a reduction in acreage due to new mapping. Officials reported it was fully lined by Saturday afternoon and crews were continuing mop-up work.

The National Weather Service extended a red flag warning for much of the region until 11 p.m. Saturday, warning of more scattered thunderstorms, some with significant rainfall and a threat of more “abundant lightning and gusty outflow winds.”

“As people head out to recreate, it’s important to remember that even though we’ve had some rain this week, conditions are still dry on the High Desert,” fire managers said Saturday afternoon in their latest blog posting.

:Check to see if campfires are allowed wherever you’re going, and make sure they’re dead out whenever someone isn’t there to watch them,” they added..

Elsewhere, in southern Oregon, the Ward Fire that broke out 18 miles southwest of Klamath Falls had grown to 1,329 acres by Saturday evening and was 17 percent contained.

The South Central Oregon Fire Management Partnership said crews worked through the night, and enough rain fell early Saturday to help finish a double-bladed bulldozer line on three sides as the south side held at the Klamath River. The cause of the fire was under investigation.

The 163 HK Complex Fire, sparked by lightning last Sunday 15 miles north of Monument, has grown to nearly 2,700 acres and is 30 percent contained, burning in timber, brush and logging slash. No rain fell on that fire, which has 650 personnel working to put it out, officials said.

The Granite Gulch Fire reported July 28 in the Eagle Cap Wilderness has burned 1,700 acres and is zero percent contained. The Forest Service is pursuing a confinement strategy to keep the fire well within the wilderness and in areas of the upper Minam River drainage.

The Pole Fire, 10 miles north of Huntington, began on Monday and burned about 470 acres before it was fully contained, according to the Northwest Coordination Center, which also has information on other fires in Washington state.

Article Topic Follows: News

Jump to comments ↓

KTVZ News Team

BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION

KTVZ NewsChannel 21 is committed to providing a forum for civil and constructive conversation.

Please keep your comments respectful and relevant. You can review our Community Guidelines by clicking here

If you would like to share a story idea, please submit it here.

Skip to content