FIRE ALERT: Forward Progress Stopped for Empire Fire, Burning in North Bend

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) --A vegetation fire that broke out Tuesday afternoon behind Empire Stone Company on the North side of Bend prompted precautionary evacuations, but firefighters stopped its forward progress in less than an hour.

The fire, called the Empire Fire, started shortly after noon near Northeast Jamison Street and Northwest Poe Sholes Drive.

Bend Fire & Rescue said the fire burned about a quarter-acre of dry grass and brush. Crews, including the U.S. Forest Service, responded quickly and contained the fire’s spread.

Officials said sparks from an angle grinder being used to cut metal started the fire.

“They had prepared for it. They had a water tank,” Bend Fire & Rescue Deputy Fire Marshal Dan Derlacki said. “They just happened to be a little bit too close to it. That hot spark got into the grass and spread.”

Derlacki said workers got hoses on the fire quickly, but the flames moved faster than they could initially contain them.

A five-unit transitional housing area was evacuated as a precaution. No buildings were damaged, and no injuries were reported.