A sign out front of the Barlow District Ranger Station in Dufur is pictured Friday afternoon against a heavy haze of smoke and an Oregon State Police trooper heading north out of town. The White river fire, southwest of Dufur, was declared a conflagration by Oregon Governor Kate Brown Friday morning.
A sign out front of the Barlow District Ranger Station in Dufur is pictured Friday afternoon against a heavy haze of smoke and an Oregon State Police trooper heading north out of town. The White river fire, southwest of Dufur, was declared a conflagration by Oregon Governor Kate Brown Friday morning.
Mark B. Gibson photo
The White River Fire grew Friday, and additional residences were given notice to evacuate at 7 a.m. Saturday morning, Aug. 29, 2020.
As of 11 a.m., the fire was 9,791 acres and 10 percent contained, according to incident command. The fire began in the Mount Hood National Forest.
In addition to the community of Pine Grove, residences on Smock Road west of the intersection of Smock Road and Ayres Road, to include all residences on Barber Lane and Farlow Road, were placed on Level 3 GO Evacuation Notice at approximately 7 a.m., according to the Wasco County Sheriff’s Office. The area from Woodcock to Driver Road to the intersection of Smock and Ayres Road, to include Muller Road are, have been warned to get ready to evacuate as well.
Notices and updates are posted on the Wasco County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page.
The White River Fire started on the Mt. Hood National Forest in Wasco County and is located 13 miles southwest of Government Camp in the White River drainage near Forest Road 48.
On Friday, Oregon Governor Kate Brown declared the fire a conflagration, opening the door to additional state resources to fight the fire, which is now under unified command by the Pacific Northwest Incident Management Team 3 and the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Office Red Team.
Firefighters and air resources are actively engaged in the suppression of the fire.
The community closest to the fire is Sportsman’s Park.
Diana and Randy, who asked their last names not be published due to privacy concerns, were evacuated — the first time — on Thursday, leaving their home on Highway 26 as the flames approached to about “five football fields away,” said Randy.
They parked the first night in a nearby gravel pit, but were then evacuated again Friday morning to make room for firefighting vehicles staging in the area.
Diana said they have lived in the area five years, and this is the first fire they have been evacuated from a fire. “It’s a little scary, you don’t know what’s going to happen,” she said. Neighbors had trouble getting their cattle out, she said, and two were killed on the highway as they were moved away from the fire.
A Red Cross shelter, originally established at Maupin High School, was moved Friday to Madras, noted Diana. “We don’t want to go all the way to Madras,” she said, choosing instead to park their trailer in a gravel area just off Highway 26 near Maupin.
One fatality has been reported on the fire. On Aug. 24, a pilot flying a Type 1 K-MAX helicopter on the White River Fire on Mt. Hood National Forest was killed while conducting bucket drops to help battle the blaze.
The pilot was the only individual on board of the aircraft at the time of the crash. The helicopter was a private contractor aircraft operating under a Call When Needed agreement with federal agencies.
Wasco County Sheriff’s Office and USDA Forest Service responded to the crash by sending air and ground resources to the scene. The crash site is in rugged terrain.
“Yesterday, we lost a member of our firefighting family in a tragic helicopter crash,” said Glenn Casamassa, Regional Forester for the Pacific Northwest Region of the USDA Forest Service, in a US Forest Service press release. “We convey our deepest sympathy to the family, incident management team, firefighters, friends and emergency responders involved. The courage to selflessly protect lives and property are respected and admired. Their ultimate sacrifice will not be forgotten. Firefighting is dangerous work and risk is well known to those who fight the flames. We honor, we remember, we support the families and their loved ones. We affirm that we are a community and that the family is part of the firefighting family as well.”
A temporary flight restriction was put in effect over the area to protect firefighter safety.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration have been notified and the USDA Forest Service will be working with the National Transportation Safety Board to investigate further.
“We don’t ever forget those people that are protecting our public lands and are on the front lines for us and our local communities,” said Wasco County Sheriff Lane Magill.
A Critical Incident Stress Management team will be assisting firefighters working on the incident.
Residents and visitors in the area are asked to respect area road, recreation site and trail closures surrounding the fire.
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