By Richard Cockle
The Oregonian (Portland, Oregon)
Copyright 2006 The Oregonian
All Rights Reserved
High winds have energized two big wildfires in the Blue Mountains of Eastern Oregon and southeastern Washington that had been relatively quiet the last few days.
Flames from the 67,381-acre Columbia complex, made up of six fires just north of the Oregon-Washington boundary near Dayton, Wash., were pushed northeast Tuesday toward the burned area of last year’s huge School fire, said Joani Bosworth, spokeswoman for the Umatilla National Forest in Pendleton.
The fire was moving into the Lewis Creek drainage and toward the Little Tucannon River, she said. The high winds continued Tuesday afternoon as crews built fire lines around 20 percent of the fire.
Meanwhile, a wildfire within the Shake Table complex, 12 miles southeast of Dayville in Grant County, made a run late Monday and early Tuesday that more than doubled its size to 10,517 acres, said Jennifer Harris, spokeswoman for the Malheur National Forest in John Day.
Windy conditions also hit the 117,553-acre South End complex between Fields and Frenchglen in Harney County. The complex is 89 percent contained behind fire lines but plenty of dry fuels lie in the potential path of that fire, officials said.
In Central Oregon, a small, dry thunderstorm logged 200 lightning strikes and started about 10 fires.
The largest among them was the 500-acre Pine Ridge fire, burning in sage and juniper about eight miles from the University of Oregon’s Pine Mountain Observatory off U.S. 20 east of Bend.
In addition, the storm started a 150-acre fire near Prineville Reservoir State Park, but it was completely ringed by a bulldozer line and threatened no structures.
The 19,551-acre Cascade Crest fires outside Sisters were relatively calm despite higher winds.
Crews completed a contingency line west of the complex’s Puzzle fire to keep it from moving toward a fish hatchery and other structures in the Marion Forks area five miles away. Fire managers have lifted closures on Meadow and Link lakes near the complex’s Lake George fire.