Local firefighters quickly extinguished a one-acre blaze about four miles south of Sunriver on Thursday afternoon, preventing flames from spreading to nearby homes.

It didn’t hurt that the fire broke out across the street from a La Pine Rural Fire District station on South Century Drive.

The fire erupted just after 4:30 p.m., torching trees and spreading back from Century Drive along Old Wood Road. At the time, fire station employees were out on another call, according to La Pine Fire Chief Jim Court.

Witnesses said a wall of flames burned at least 50 feet high.

Dale Mandel, who lives about two miles away in the Thousand Trails resort area, was driving when he saw a column of smoke and then towering flames. He called 911.

”I said this could wipe out some homes real fast,” Mandel said. He was surprised that firefighters were able to bring the flames under control so rapidly.

Twenty-five firefighters from La Pine, Sunriver, the Oregon Department of Forestry and the U.S. Forest Service knocked down the big flames.

A 20-person crew of contract wildland firefighters arrived at about 5:45 p.m. to mop up the smoldering remains of the blaze.

South Century Drive was closed between Vandevert Road and the Huntington Road turnoff for a period of time.

The fire began at two points on both sides of South Century Drive, Court said. A small patch of grass burned on the west side of the street, while the eastside blaze flashed through a thick stand of pines.

”We had two crews out on calls, and then this here right in front of the station,” Court said. ”Kind of makes you wonder.”

Investigators ruled it human-caused and gathered evidence from the two start points.

”The evidence supports that there were two separate starts,” said Ron Pugh, head of the Central Oregon Arson Task Force.

Pugh asked residents with any knowledge of how the fire may have started to call his office at 383-5510.

Elsewhere in the state, firefighters battled more than a dozen large blazes.

The White River fire exploded from about 2,500 acres Thursday morning to more than 14,000 acres by nightfall, rushing across grass and sage rangeland on the east side of the Deschutes River near Maupin.

As of Thursday night, one finger of the rapidly growing fire was only a quarter mile north of town.

”We can see flames coming down the hill towards the river,” said Virginia Fuller, owner of the Deschutes Motel in Maupin. ”The whole hillside is slowly burning down.”

Fuller said winds were blowing against the advancing flames, however, and residents didn’t feel threatened.

Officials said structures were threatened and structural firefighters had been called in to protect homes.

Firefighters closed Bake Oven Road, a shortcut between two sections of Highway 197. White River Campground was evacuated.

The fire was active on several fronts and was not contained anywhere. It was moving primarily in a southeasterly direction from its origin five miles north of Maupin.

The Cache Mountain blaze 11 miles north of Sisters continued to spread, having consumed 700 acres acres as of Thursday night. It was estimated to be 5 percent contained.

Firefighters ordered a precautionary evacuation of staff and livestock at Camp Tamarack, south of Suttle Lake.

Eleven firefighters who were injured Wednesday on the Tool Box Complex Fire were released from St. Charles Medical Center on Thursday morning and returned to fire camp yesterday. A few had been treated for minor burns and all were treated for smoke inhalation.

They were planning to return to the fire line soon, said Chris Walker, information officer for the Tool Box Complex.

No information was yet available on what forced the firefighters into their heat-resistant shelters. Walker said an investigation was under way to determine the chain of events that triggered the deployment – standard practice in the event of a shelter deployment.

The Tool Box fire, which has scorched 81,508 acres over the past two weeks, continues to draw additional firefighters and resources to south-central Oregon. It is now 50 percent contained.

The northeast corner of the fire demanded attention Thursday, but lighter winds allowed firefighters to make steady progress on fire lines.

Crews dug a new fire line between Summer Lake and Forest Service Road 2901 and lit burnouts to widen that fire line. Firefighters also put in a second fire line connecting Road 2901 to the Silver Lake area.

The Lava Fire, part of the Tool Box Complex, grew to 1,600 acres in extremely rugged lava flow terrain. The complex also included a portion of the nearby Winter Fire.

Near Lake Billy Chinook, firefighters continued to mop up the Eyerly Complex Fire where it had crossed over the top of Green Ridge near Bean Creek.

It was said to be 95 percent contained, with full containment expected today by 6 p.m. The blaze has now scorched 23,573 acres.

Some firefighters and equipment were being redeployed to the Cache Mountain Fire.

At the 747 Fire, crews managed to put in well over three miles of fire line, containing the fire at 50 percent.

The blaze continued to advance on its western flank, but didn’t have any large flareups Thursday.

The smaller Murray Fire was contained Thursday after it scorched 432 acres.

Todd Dayton can be reached at 541-383-0354 or tdayton@bendbulletin.com.