With continued progress calming wildfires burning 10,332 acres near Mount Bachelor, evacuation levels Friday afternoon were removed from the mountain and reduced slightly for nearby areas.

The action from the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office continued the rollback of evacuation levels that peaked late Tuesday afternoon, when swirling winds and high temperatures kicked up the fire, pushing the Sunriver area to Level 2—Be Set orders to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice. Sunriver was reduced to Level 1 Thursday morning after rains helped slow the fire’s spread. Sunriver remained a Level 1—Be Ready orders Friday afternoon.

Areas northwest and southwest of Sunriver in the Deschutes National Forest were reduced from Level 3—Go Now to Level 1. Forest land directly west of Sunriver and Forest Road 41 remained at a Level 3, and forest closures were still in effect.

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Encroaching wildfire puts Sunriver residents on edge

The Bachelor Complex Fire is a group of about 30 smaller lightning-caused fires ranging in size from one tenth of an acre to more than 1,000 acres near Mount Bachelor and surrounding areas. Included is the Little Lava Fire, started approximately 2 miles southeast of Little Lava Lake to the west of Sunriver.

Firefighters are still working to establish containment lines while cool temperatures have helped keep activity to a minimum. But fire officials expect smoke will become more visible as the weekend begins with warmer, dryer conditions. Wind gusts could also increase fire activity before cooler conditions set in early next week.

With evacuation orders lifted, Mt. Bachelor announced it will resume normal operations Saturday after closing due to fires Sept. 7. No infrastructure on the mountain has been damaged.

Meanwhile, a pair of fires burning east of La Pine — the Firestone and Flat Top fires — did not grow as of Friday. They are burning at 8,787 acres and 30,643 acres, respectively.

Evacuation levels

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s office made two changes to evacuation levels Friday:

• Deschutes National Forest immediately adjacent to the Deschutes River north of Forest Road 40 (Spring River Road), east of Forest Road 41 (Conklin Road), and south of Benham Falls is being reduced to Level 1: Be Ready.

• Mount Bachelor is being reduced to normal status.

All other levels remain in effect:

Level 3 — Go Now evacuation levels are in place in the following areas:

• Deschutes National Forest south of Forest Road 46, west of Forest Road 41 and south of Benham Falls, north of Forest Road 40, east of Century Drive excluding Elk and Lava Lake resorts cabins and campgrounds.

• Mount Bachelor, Wanoga Butte, Kappa Sno-Park, Edison Sno-Park, Todd Horse Camp, Sparks Lake, Devil’s Lake, Sitkum Butte, Anns Butte and Pistol Butte.

• Areas west of the Deschutes National Forest boundary, north of South Century Drive, east of Forest Road 4240 and north of Forest Road 40.

Level 1 — Be Ready evacuation levels are in place for the following areas.

• Areas west of the Deschutes River from Fall River Estates north to Spring River Road, including Fall River Estates, River Forest Acres, River Meadows, Stage Stop Meadows and Deschutes River Recreational Homesites.

• Areas north of Spring River Road west of the Deschutes River including Besson Road and Spring River Acres.

• Sunriver