Two fires at opposite ends of Central Oregon broke out on Tuesday, and crews were continuing to fight both blazes into the night.
The Finley Fire, located about 5 miles southwest of Newberry Crater, was reported around 2:30 p.m. and had grown to an estimated 40 acres by nightfall.
Heather Fisher of the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Team said local firefighters fought the Finley Fire with assistance from two helicopters and an aerial tanker Tuesday afternoon, and have completed a bulldozer line and burnouts around the less active side of the fire.
Starla Green from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said a fire about 10 miles northeast of Madras was reported on the west side of the highway around 4 p.m., and jumped the highway heading east within 20 minutes. Fire crews from multiple agencies and the Bureau of Land Management responded and closed the highway, halting all traffic for approximately three hours.
Green said five residents of a home on the east side of the highway were evacuated, but their home was no longer threatened as of 10 p.m. The fire was estimated to have burned 200 acres of grass, sagebrush and juniper as of Tuesday night.
Crews will be on the fire through the night, Green said Tuesday.
