Oregon Resident is Staying Put Until Fire Truck in Driveway

Aug. 19--THE DALLES -- Strong winds that pushed the Blackburn fire into what officials called "explosive" fuels forced the evacuation of dozens of homes and structures along a remote stretches of three roads southwest of town Monday.

Early Monday afternoon, Tommy Schroeder, a spokesman for the state fire marshal's office, said the level-3 evacuation notice -- which means "leave now" -- affected only a handful of homes on Obrist Road.

But then, less than an hour later, residents who live along upper Mill Creek and Reservoir roads were told they, too, had to go as the fire began jumping ridgelines and fire breaks carved into the desiccated landscape.

The second order came about 4 p.m. Monday and was directed at about 50 structures that had earlier been under a level-2 evacuation notice. That means "get ready to go."

"The weather has been kind of dodgy so this was mostly a preventative measure; the winds have been so unpredictable, swirling and going in different directions," Schroeder said.

The Blackburn is one of three fires make up the so-called Government Flat Complex about 10 miles southwest of The Dalles. The other two are the Government Flat fire and the Wells fire.

All were sparked by lightning strikes Friday, but the largest is the Blackburn, which grew to at least 2,700 acres Monday, sweeping across an arid landscape of crackling dry fuels pushed by 30-plus mph winds, said Oregon Dept. of Forestry spokesman David Morman.

For resident Richard Mathewson, the word to get ready to evacuate came early Sunday morning, as the Blackburn fire began to bear down on his home on Reservoir Road.

"We moved in last week so in a way it was pretty easy to get ready, because everything was still in boxes," Mathewson said after he crossed through a Wasco County Sheriff's roadblock at the intersection of Reservoir and Old Mill Road.

Mathewson's small pickup truck was still wet from the sprinkler that had been running for days, soaking the vegetation around his house and creating what's known as defensible space.

On the fire's southern flank Monday, the blaze jumped Skyline Road, but ran into an area that had been back-burned earlier in the day, said Kelly Niles, an ODF fire supervisor.

At a dusty, smoky road junction where the fire's front could be seen throwing up a massive column to the southeast, Niles said he was cautiously optimistic that the lines would hold.

"The difficulties are, No. 1, there is so much dry fuel out here; and No. 2, when you throw in this kind of wind, it's very difficult to contain," he said.

In addition to tall, dry grass, the fire is burning through scrub oak and some small, mixed conifers: "The stuff that's still standing out there is so dry, it's crunchy and crumbles, almost into dust."

Speaking of dust, as Niles spoke to a group of reporters, his pickup truck sat in nearly a foot of talcum-like brown dust. Large firetrucks raced by on the road, some blowing their horns as a warning as they disappeared into the miasma.

Across blackened range and scrub oak forest, a bulldozer lumbered into sight, clanking and generating its own swirling tower of dust and ash.

Niles said the winds were so strong that the smoke comes right down to the ground, obscuring targets for air tankers dropping retardant and helicopters making water drops.

Still, while helicopters could not seen through the hellish atmosphere of smoke and dust, the distinctive thwack of their rotors could be heard above, as could the low rumble of air tankers.

Some of those air operations could be seen clearly from Ron Krol's deck on Mill Creek Road.

"They've been dropping all day," Krol said, "and less than about a mile from my house."

Krol had sprinklers all around his yard, and also on his rooftop in case of flying embers. Luckily, he said, the prevailing winds have kept most of the smoke from his location, otherwise "it would have driven us out."

Structural teams in firetrucks from Silverton, Banks and Hillsboro fire departments were seen racing, lights and sirens, up the winding, sinuous roads that describe this area, which is crisscrossed with hollows, canyons and dry creekbeds.

Krol said minutes before he got a reverse 9-1-1 called advising him that his house was now under a level 3 evacuation notice. But he said he was hoping to get verbal confirmation from a fire officials before leaving. A few minutes later, a neighbor walked up his driveway and told him that it was apparently true.

"I guess it's decision time," he said. "If you leave, you can't get back in. I'm not going to leave until a firetruck is parked in my yard."

The American Red Cross has established a shelter for displaced residents at Dry Hollow Elementary at 1314 E. 19th St. in The Dalles.

Meanwhile, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) authorized the use of federal funds to help with firefighting costs for the fire, U.S. Government officials said.

The authorization makes FEMA funding available to pay 75 percent of Oregon eligible firefighting costs under an approved grant for managing, mitigating and controlling designated fires, FEMA officials said.

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--Stuart Tomlinson

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