Fire burns 130 acres on foothill just southwest of Baker City

Oct. 6—Wildfire season is waning, but Baker City residents had a nearby reminder that it's not over.

A blaze that started early Thursday afternoon, Oct. 6 near the base of the foothill, about 2 mile southwest of town, rapidly climbed the slopes of desiccated grass and sagebrush, reaching the top of the ridge with its cluster of radio and cell antennas.

But a rapid response from firefighters on the ground, and a trio of aircraft overhead, kept the fire from threatening homes or other structures, said Steve Meyer, wildland fire supervisor at the Oregon Department of Forestry's Baker City office.

There were no evacuation notices.

Meyer said one fire engine was stationed in a section of Western Heights, north of the fire, as a precaution.

The fire, the cause of which is still under investigation, burned about 130 acres, Meyer said. He said it was likely human-caused.

Two investigators from the Forestry Department were on the scene on Friday, Oct. 7, he said.

Meyer said the fire, which was reported at 1:15 p.m., had slowed considerably by around 5:30 p.m., when the unseasonably warm sunshine was no longer falling directly on the dry fuels.

Bulldozers had plowed control lines around 85% to 90% of the fire perimeter, and firefighters connected those lines with hand-dug lines, Meyer said.

The lack of gusty winds aided firefighters, he said.

"If there was any wind at all it would have run to the top (of the ridge) much sooner," Meyer said.

The wind freshened a bit later in the afternoon, with gusts from the northwest to 10 or 15 mph, and that pushed the fire along the contours of the foothill, but by then the combination of control lines and stripes of retardant dropped from an MD-87 jet had limited the fire's ability to spread, Meyer said.

Although the grass, sagebrush and scattered juniper trees — most of the latter are shrub size — are extremely dry after the hot summer and with temperatures in the low 80s, about 15 degrees above normal, Meyer said fires in early October are easier to control than in mid summer, when the period of peak heating is at least a few hours longer.

"The window for things to burn really good is pretty small this time of year," he said.

Grass and sage, although they burn rapidly, also don't hold much heat, so once they've been scorched there's little risk of the fire reigniting, Meyer said.

"It's not like a timber fire where you have a bunch of residual heat," he said.

Front row viewing

Given the fire's proximity to Baker City — the smoke plume was visible throughout town and Baker Valley — it's not surprising that multiple people reported the blaze about the same time.

Meyer said he sent three engines from the Forestry Department office to the fire, which started in Spring Grove Gulch, south of West Campbell Loop.

"It was not a good place for a fire to start," Meyer said.

The wet spring nourished a lush crop of grass that has long since cured to tinder.

"There was plenty of fuel," Meyer said.

Initially the fire burned mainly on the west side of the gulch, which has a seasonal stream that's dry now. Later the flames spread to the east side of the gulch, and the fire rapidly climbed to the top of the ridge.

The retardant plane, which is based at the La Grande Airport, used its first load to "box in" the network of antennas at the crest of the ridge, Meyer said.

The jet tanker can carry around 4,000 gallons of retardant, and is equipped with multiple doors that allows the crew to dump either one, two or four separate loads.

Two helicopters, one from Baker Aircraft, dropped water on the flames, dipping from a pond north of Pocahontas Road. Meyer said the helicopter buckets can hold 300 to 400 gallons.

The fire generally burned away from homes, including the ones in the Western Heights neighborhood, Meyer said.

When the flames were moving southeast they mainly stayed toward the top of the ridge rather than descending closer to homes at the southwest edge of Baker City.

Meyer said he talked with Sheriff Travis Ash during the fire, and they agreed that there was no need to issue evacuation notices.

Ash said on Friday morning that he had deputies talk with residents closest to the fire, but based on the many firefighting resources that arrived quickly, including the jet tanker, and the way the fire was moving, he "felt really comfortable" that it wasn't necessary to issue even a Level 1 — be ready to leave — notice.

"If it was two months earlier and 100 degrees and windy, it would have been a completely different story," Ash said. "It was based on fire behavior and the resources we had coming. I really appreciate everyone working together, the fire agencies."

Ash said the sheriff's office received phone calls from residents, including some in Baker City, wondering if they should evacuate.

Ash said he always errs on the side of caution, but "we never want to create unnecessary panic."

Firefighters from many agencies, including rural fire protection districts, were involved, including the Baker County Rural Fire Protection District, Forest Service, BLM, North Powder Rural Fire Department and Keating Rural Fire Protection District.

"I think all the agencies worked together really well," Meyer said.

Although the fire started on private land within the Baker Rural Fire Protection District, Meyer said the potential for the fire to reach the top of the ridge, which is the boundary for an area for which the Forestry Department is responsible for firefighting, prompted him to call in resources from the state agency.

The fire was mainly confined to the Baker side of the foothill, but flames did spread a short distance onto the south side, above Griffin Gulch, Meyer said.

Two Forestry Department engine crews were on duty all night Thursday into Friday morning, one at the top of the ridge and one near the bottom. They doused one small spot fire but otherwise patrolled the lines.