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more photosSmoke rises from the East Fire on McKay Butte in the Deschutes National Forest. Officials said the fire is not actively growing.
Pete Erickson / The Bulletin
Fire sparked by lightning burns near Newberry
By Lauren Dake / The Bulletin
Published: July 25. 2009 4:00AM PSTLightning caused a 24-acre fire that started early Friday morning and is burning about 20 miles south of Bend in the Deschutes National Forest near McKay Butte, according to fire officials.
“We’ve had a number of storms in the area over the past three weeks,” said Heather Fisher, a spokeswoman for a firefighting crew on the scene.
Crews started working on the fire at about 4 a.m. Friday.
The East Fire can be seen from Newberry Crater, a popular local destination.
Although the McKay Crossing Campground hasn’t been closed, fire officials would rather people avoid the area.
“We aren’t encouraging people to go there and are asking people to leave on a voluntary basis because of all the activity,” said Bill Queen, a spokesman with the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center.
Paulina Lake Resort, about five miles from the fire, and East Lake Resort are still open. Crews don’t anticipate any evacuations in the future. However, parts of Paulina Lake are closed so helicopters can take buckets of water from the lake to douse the fire.
The fire has closed several 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 U.S. Highway 97, and the 9736 Road at the junction with 2120 Road.
Flight restrictions of about five miles around McKay Butte are also in place.
Although the fire is not contained, Queen said it’s not actively growing, and a highly skilled crew is working on fairly steep terrain to keep it from spreading.
As of Friday evening, there were several crews on the scene, including the Prineville Interagency Hotshot Crew plus one agency and two contract crews. There are two engines, a water tender, two air tankers as well as helicopters on the scene.
Crews have completed digging a fire trail around the perimeter, which will help to keep the fire from spreading.
Fisher said although crews are progressing, there is still a lot of work to be done. She said it’s important that at this time of the year forest users practice caution.
“It is hot and dry, and the conditions are expected to continue like this into next week,” she said. “We’re in extreme fire danger, and I would caution people to be careful when out recreating. Put out campfires. Watch where you put cigarettes. It’s hot and dry and any little mistake could be dangerous. “
Lauren Dake can be reached at 541-419-8074 or at ldake@bendbulletin.com.
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