New 500-acre wildfire on Crooked River National Grassland east of Culver; BPA lines threatened, pre-evacuation alerts

CULVER. Ore. (KTVZ) – A new wildfire was reported Sunday afternoon on the Crooked River National Grasslands east of Culver and quickly grew to about 500 acres as an air and ground fight ramped up and pre-evacuation alerts were issued for the blaze, which threatened Bonneville Power Administration transmission lines.

The Ochoco Fire (Incident 675) was reported around 1:45 p.m. east of Highway 97, west of Highway 26 and north of Haystack Reservoir, Jefferson County Fire & EMS Chief Jeff Blake and Central Oregon fire officials said. Also involved in the firefighting efforts were the BLM and Forest Service, he said.

The Central Oregon Fire Management Service said in an X tweet shortly before 6 p.m. "A Type 3 Incident Commander has taken command of the fire. Air attack and multiple air tankers are now assisting the ground crews. Transmission lines are threatened."

While air tankers dropped retardant in a bid to slow the flames' spread, a firefighting helicopter drew water from nearby Haystack Reservoir.

The Jefferson County Evacuation Zones map showed areas of Level 1 (Be Ready) and Level 2 (Be set) evacuation notices.

We’ll have more details as available. More information at: https://app.watchduty.org/i/31320