The Wickiup and Round Mountain fires. 

Tuesday afternoon, Bend got a much-needed respite from the heat with afternoon showers and night-time thunderstorms.

But that respite came at a cost.

The National Weather Service office in Pendleton recorded 33 lightning strikes between 8 a.m. Tuesday and 8 a.m. Wednesday, which ignited 15 fires across Deschutes County, according to Central Oregon Fire Information.

Of the fires started by lightning strikes Tuesday night into Wednesday, 13 were quickly contained and controlled by fire crews and aerial resources. There was also one human-started fire near La Pine Tuesday afternoon. Most, including the human-started fire, were less than a tenth of an acre.

Central Oregon fires

The two fires that continued burning are now called the Round Mountain and Wickiup fires, burning 7 miles northwest of La Pine and just north of Wickiup Reservoir, respectively. As of Thursday afternoon, Central Oregon Fire Information reported the Round Mountain Fire had burned 20 acres and the Wickiup Fire had burned 135 acres.

A Central Oregon fire management team established incident command for both fires Thursday morning and are managing the two under the name Round Mountain Fire. Resources include engine crews, dozers, airplanes and a Type 1 helicopter, which can typically carry up to 700 gallons of water or retardant.

Over Wednesday night, firefighters were able to build fire lines around 100% of the Wickiup Fire, and during the day crews were able to build line around 75% of the Round Mountain Fire. Both are 0% contained.

Level 3—Go Now evacuation notices were issued Wednesday evening for the national forest area north of Wickiup Reservoir, Forest Road 4262, Forest Road 4380 and south of South Century Drive. Level 2—Be Set evacuation notices were in place for areas between Forest Road 4380 and the Deschutes River, including the Bull Bend and Wyeth campgrounds. Level 1—Be Ready evacuations were issued for the Haner Park subdivision.

All evacuation notices were still in effect Thursday.

The Red Fire in the Diamond Peak Wilderness was at 60 acres as of Thursday afternoon. It is burning in steep terrain northwest of Crescent Lake near Redtop Mountain, and is being fought by smokejumpers and other firefighters.

Oregon had 12 large fires burning as of Thursday morning, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. The blazes had burned a combined 327,732 acres. The agency defines a large fire as 100 acres or more in timber and 300 acres in grass.

Forecast and smoke

While many red-flag fire weather warnings are expiring throughout Central Oregon, Rob Brooks with the National Weather Service in Pendleton said that is simply because fire-fanning winds are dissipating. Temperatures are expected to remain high throughout the region into next week. The forecast calls for a high around 100 degrees Saturday in Bend and Redmond.

But Brooks is optimistic that the next weather system coming in Tuesday will help level out the high heat.

“We have 40-60% confidence in the fact that the next system should start to help flatten the ridge and maybe cause a little change in our weather pattern, mitigating some of these really warm temperatures and possibly putting some breeziness back into our areas,” Brooks said.

While 40-60% confidence might not seem very high, Brooks said those numbers are as good as certainty gets when forecasting weather that far out.

With the decrease in winds, Bend residents will notice more smoke settling into the basin. Brooks couldn’t say with any certainty which fire that smoke is coming from, saying it’s better to describe the whole region as smoky.

“It’s coming from a little bit of everywhere is probably the best answer, just depending on the airflow during the day and then, overnight, the airflow slows down and everything settles and presses into the valleys,” Brooks said. “The one benefit is beautiful sunsets and sunrises.”