Sprague River, Ore., resident David Pool lifts a marble block from the rubble left by the Moccasin Fire, Tuesday, July 15, 2014. The stone, which came from the hospital where his oldest son was born, is one of the few items at his home not destroyed by the blaze.
Sprague River, Ore., resident David Pool lifts a marble block from the rubble left by the Moccasin Fire, Tuesday, July 15, 2014. The stone, which came from the hospital where his oldest son was born, is one of the few items at his home not destroyed by the blaze.
GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — A highway through the Ochoco Mountains of central Oregon remains closed by a wildfire, but the threat to about 10 scattered homes and ranches eased.
Fire officials said Wednesday the Bailey Butte fire — part of the Waterman Complex — had burned more than 2,000 acres west of Mitchell and was moving south into the Ochoco National Forest.
A stretch of U.S. Highway 26 remained closed west of Mitchell, but the evacuation notice for homes along West Branch Road was dropped to the lowest level.
Two other fires near Service Creek and Kimberly brought the Waterman Complex to more than 4,000 acres. The three fires started from lightning strikes on Friday and were burning in timber, grass and brush. They were expected to grow in the hot and windy weather.
Elsewhere, a fire that started in a northeast Oregon field west of Heppner raced quickly across as much as 20,000 acres, or some 30 square miles, before firefighters from two counties got it stopped, the Morrow County sheriff's office said.
Undersheriff Steven Myren said no homes or other structures were lost Wednesday although he says the fire "did get uncomfortably close to some." Some power poles and phone lines were damaged.
Early estimates put the area burned at between 15,000 and 20,000 acres, Myren said.
The fire raced nearly five miles through standing wheat and other fuels.
The cause is under investigation.
A wildfire that broke out Sunday in an off-the-grid subdivision near the Klamath County community of Sprague River was more destructive than authorities initially believed.
After the fire ignited in the Moccasin Hill subdivision 4 miles south of Sprague River, officials reported six houses destroyed along with 14 outbuildings — barns, garages, shops and the like. But when fire managers toured the burn area Tuesday, spokeswoman Ashley Lertora said they found 17 residences and 16 outbuildings destroyed.
The cause was under investigation.
Lertora said a containment line was around the 4-square-mile burn area, and crews were working toward its center, putting out hot spots.
Kim McIntyre, co-owner of Whistlers Trading Post in Sprague River, told the Herald and News newspaper that many of the people in Moccasin Hill live off the grid with no electricity or telephone.
Resident David Pool told the newspaper he left the cabin where he lives with his wife and young daughter when he saw the approaching flames were twice as tall as the trees they were burning. His wife and daughter were away. When he returned, the cabin and solar panels were destroyed.
"I could tell that if you would have stood there with a shovel and a hose, even with an airplane dumping water on you, you wouldn't have made it out of there," he said Tuesday. "There was so much fuel, so densely stacked up, I don't think it could have been stopped."
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