A wind-fanned wildfire erupted four miles northeast of the North Sister Sunday morning, racing through 150-plus acres live and downed timber and prompting evacuations of campsites and trails over a wide area west of Sisters.
A tall billowing smoke plume was visible for many miles in the late summer sky from the Pole Creek Fire in the Three Sisters Wilderness Area. The fire, nine miles southwest of Sisters, was reported around 10:45 a.m. by Deschutes County 911 dispatchers to the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center in Prineville.
By 1 p.m., the fire, burning in timber and downed trees, had grown to at least 150 acres and was growing very fast in blustery winds, officials said.
People were being urged to stay out of the area as dozens of campers and hikers were evacuated, with numerous forest roads and trails being closed to keep people away.
An air tanker joined three water-dropping helicopters battling the blaze, along with fire crews and an engine. A Type 2 incident management team will take over management of the fire Monday as more resources are ordered in.
Four air tankers were ordered up, though some might have to instead head to a new blaze on Washington’s Gifford Pinchot National Forest, said Jada Altman at COID.
“The (Pole Creek Trailhead on the wilderness boundary) parking lot is threatened at this time,” Altman said. “We’re trying to get folks out of the way of the fire, not headed to their cars.”
Smoke jumpers were called in early on but were unable to deploy due to the winds, Altman said.
Fire managers and 911 dispatchers urged people to stay out of the area and said those in the area were being urged to evacuate to Park Meadow or the Obsidian Trailhead for further evacuations from Highway 242 (the McKenzie Pass Highway.)
If they can't get there, they need to get to a "safe zone," dispatchers said -- that being anywhere they are not surrounded by timber, or head to a body of water for safety.
We’ll have more details as available. We are being provided many dramatic photos of the fire, for which we're most grateful, and will post them when we can, realizing that the latest information is the utmost priority.
--writing found on KTVZ.com (Bend, Oregon)
--writing found on KTVZ.com (Bend, Oregon)
