A forest supervisor now calls it "human error" that kept his agency from getting a jump on the Pole Creek Fire that turned into the largest of the summer in Central Oregon.
Firefighters were sent to the northwest flank of the Pole Creek fire Saturday to continue wildfire suppression efforts in the rugged terrain of the Willamette National Forest, fire officials said.
The Pole Creek blaze is expected to burn until autumn rains extinguish it, but there's no moisture in the forecast. Only dry thunderstorms and a red flag warning for the coming days.
Smoke and air quality are major concerns as crews battle the Pole Creek fire near Sisters. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality rated the air quality in Sisters as "hazardous" on Wednesday.
Smoke from a wildfire in Central Oregon crept back into the Willamette Valley on Monday, slowly but surely driving air quality numbers to their unhealthiest level yet this month.
EUGENE, Ore. - Smoke from a wildfire in Central Oregon crept back into the Willamette Valley on Monday, slowly but surely driving air quality numbers to their unhealthiest level since the fire started.
I drove a fire fighter to the Pole Creek Fire Incident Camp, just outside of Sisters Oregon on 9-14-12. It was at sunset and the camp was filling up with fire fighters ending a day of firefighting.
A wildfire burning near Sisters has jumped a containment line and grown to over 23 square miles, spreading through the Deschutes wilderness to the north and south. The increased fire activity has also prompted a pre-evacuation to be issued for...