Brush fire east of Redmond prompts Pacific Power to conduct emergency power shut-off to over 10,000 customers
Power lines were within 300 yards of wind-driven blaze, stopped at an acre
REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) – A brush fire that Redmond firefighters stopped at about an acre just east of the city Tuesday evening prompted Pacific Power to enact an emergency, precautionary power shutoff that topped 10,000 customers at its peak and lasted for over 90 minutes.
Redmond Fire & Rescue crews were dispatched around 6:45 p.m. to the fire east of NE 17th Street, stopping forward progress of the blaze fairly quickly and holding it to about an acre in size, Fire Chief Ryan Herrera said Wednesday.
Pacific Power began its emergency de-energization of the lines around 8:40 p.m. Tuesday, with the impacts peaking at 10,591 customers, spokesman Simon Gutierrez said.
“The fire was within a mile of four circuits,” Gutierrez said. “We de-energize our lines when wildfires get near our equipment, for the safety of first responders and to guard against additional fire ignitions.”
“We restore power when our crews on the ground are able to assess fire risk and determine where it’s safe to turn power back on,” he explained.
All customers affected by the outage had power restored by 10:22 p.m.
“Customers were restored in steps, when crews determined it was safe,” Gutierrez said.
Herrera said the incident commander told him a Pacific Power representative pointed out power lines about 300 yards from the fire.
Herrera said he assumed the size of the wind-driven blaze “played a role in the decision to de-energize the power lines in the area.”
While it’s unfortunate so many customers were affected, the fire chief said, “I appreciate the steps taken out of an abundance of caution to aid in firefighter safety and avoid issues that may have contributed to the fire’s spread.”
The cause of the fire is undetermined, Redmond Fire Marshal Tom Mooney said.
"The area did not contain any (homeless) camps, but it is an area that people do pass through frequently," Mooney said. "Thankfully it was in an area that recently had fire mitigation measures done by limbing and thinning of the trees in the area. I would credit this work to helping slow the spread of the fire."
