A brush fire on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation shut down a portion of U.S. Highway 26 on Thursday afternoon. The fire was caused by spontaneous combustion at a disused sawmill on the reservation, according to Danny Martinez, emergency manager for the reservation.

Martinez said the fire burned about 2 to 3 acres of land on the reservation near the Deschutes River. No buildings had been damaged by the blaze, which was still active as of 5:50 p.m.

“It’s a recurring fire we have had in the last couple of years behind the old sawmill. It rekindles itself, re-flares itself, the highway is shut down in case it spots across the highway,” said Martinez.

Martinez said the fire occurs in the bark dust behind the mill during hot weather. Similar fires have occurred during the past two summers, and Martinez said the fire is smoldering underneath the debris from the mill.

“It kicks up and gets into the dry grass, and takes off on its own,” he said.

Fire crews from Jefferson County, Warm Springs, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs were working to put out the fire, said Martinez. Air support had also been called in to assist, in the event that the fire jumps across the Deschutes River.