Camp trailer fire doused east of Madras deemed suspicious

MADRAS, Ore. (KTVZ) -- A fire that destroyed a camp trailer and began to spread to nearby sagebrush and trees east of Madras on Saturday is being investigated as suspicious, Sheriff Marc Heckathorn said.

The county's new sheriff said he was preparing for the Crooked River Ranch parade Saturday morning when he responded to a report of smoke east of the Deer Ridge Correctional Institution.

"When I arrived, I found a camp trailer fully engulfed in flames that spread from the trailer to the sagebrush and trees nearby," Heckathorn said in a Facebook posting.

Area ranchers and property owners rushed to help suppress the fire until Jefferson County Fire District crews arrived, the sheriff said.

The fire is suspicious, he said, and a Forest Service arson investigator is looking into it. "Thankfully, the fire didn't spread much beyond the trailer, and I was able to make it to the ranch for the parade on time (barely)," Heckathorn wrote.

"Please be safe this weekend and enjoy your Independence Day weekend.," he added.