'Sleeper' fire sparked up to 3 weeks ago; campers asked to leave voluntarily; forest roads, trail shut
By Adam Aaro and Amy Easley, KTVZ.COM
A new - but apparently long-smoldering - wildfire broke out early Friday on McKay Butte, northeast of La Pine on the Deschutes National Forest, and had burned 24 acres of steep terrain before a line was dug around it, officials said.
The East Fire was first reported to Deschutes County 911 dispatchers about 1:30 a.m. and was burning on butte's steep slopes, four miles northwest of Paulina Lake and east of Highway 97, the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center reported.
Late Friday, investigators confirmed that "they definitely found a tree on the fire that was lightning-struck" about three weeks ago, said Bill Queen of COIDC. While rare, it's not unknown for trees struck by lightning to smolder for days or weeks before hot weather sparks a blaze.
By late Friday afternoon, crews had a fire line around the entire perimeter - but with hot weather at hand, it was still at zero percent containment.
The first fire crews arrived about 4 a.m., working on the Deschutes National Forest in a lodgepole pine forest dominated by dead and downed fuels and brush, officials said.
The initial effort involved four 20-person crews, including the Prineville Hotshots, along with two engines, a water tender, two bulldozers, and Type 1 and 3 helicopters.
Paulina Lake was partly closed for a time, so helicopters could dip water to pour on the flames, but reopened at 6 p.m. Friday.
A voluntary evacuation of the McKay Crossing Campground was dropped late Friday, and the Peter Skene Ogden Trail from the campground to Paulina Lake reopened.
But some closures remained in place:
Roads: The 9735 Road north of the 900 road; the 9730 Road at the junction of the 400 and 800 roads; The 9735 just off Hwy 97; and the 9736 Road at the junction with 2120 Road.
Aerial: A Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) of about five miles around McKay Butte remains in place.
The fire is highly visible from the popular recreation destination of Newberry Crater which is accessed from U.S. Hwy 97 using Road 21.
The public can continue to recreate in the area and travel on Road 21 into the area. Paulina Lake Resort and East Lake Resort are both open.
The fire was very visible from the popular destination in Newberry Crater, which is reached on Forest Road 21 from Highway 97.
Visitors to the forest in the area were urged to watch for fire-related traffic and be especially careful with any fire-related activities, such as wood-cutting, cooking and campfires.
No structures were threatened, but officials said they were concerned the fire could move onto the Newberry National Volcanic Monument, about three miles to the east.
The command center began on the back
View from our access road.
View from our neighbor's property.
View from La Pine Redi Mix, Inc.
No comments:
Post a Comment