Blaze near Wilson Creek prompts state mobilization
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 10 years, 3 months AGO
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | August 2, 2016 6:00 AM
ODESSA — A fire about 13 miles east of Wilson Creek grew to more than 23,000 acres Saturday, moving so quickly it prompted state fire mobilization Saturday afternoon.
As of Sunday evening the Black Rock Fire was estimated at about 23,600 acres, with the fire about 40 percent contained, according to information from the Grant County Sheriff's Office. Fire crews were conducting “burnout operations” near Odessa along SR 28, said Alan Hoffmeister, public information officer for the Black Rock Fire. The fire is currently burning about eight miles west of Odessa.
"On Sunday morning crews aided by a single-engine air tanker plane and local citizens with farming equipment responded to a flare-up near the southwest corner of the fireline and were able to stop the spread of the fire," the sheriff's office press release said.
“The fire really laid down overnight (Saturday night),” Hoffmeister said, and crews spent Sunday building lines to contain the fire. "Fire behavior (Sunday) afternoon has diminished significantly," the sheriff's office press release said. "Crew are working to mop up hotspots near containment lines (mostly roads)," Hoffmeister wrote. The fire is burning through range land and wheat stubble, according to the press release.
The fire started about 12:24 p.m. Saturday, according to a press release from the state fire marshal’s office. In dry terrain and driven by strong winds, the fire grew from an initial estimate of 300 acres to about 11,000 acres by 9 p.m., the sheriff's office said.
“They really burn fast when the wind’s blowing. And they don’t want to stop,” Hoffmeister said.
No homes have been lost in the fire, although a Level 2 evacuation notice (meaning people should be ready to leave at a moment’s notice) was issued about 4 p.m. Saturday for people living in the 12000 to 16000 block of Black Rock Road. About 25 residences are threatened, according to the fire marshal's office.
One person was treated for smoke inhalation. One outbuilding was burned and an undisclosed number of cattle were killed, according to the sheriff’s office.
“Containment efforts of local fire districts kept the fire from spreading north across SR 28 into sensitive BLM sagebrush lands,” the press release from the sheriff’s office said.
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