Deschutes County Evacuation: Brush Fires Prompt Oregon Home Evacuations, Level 3 Alert

Many homes on Apache Land and Cinder Butte Road in the Deschutes River Woods area of Oregon had to evacuate due to a brush fire that grew rapidly due to strong winds Sunday, but a separate Tumalo area fire is prompting new evacuations.

Bend Fire and Rescue issued a Level 3 evacuation alert and had homes on the affected streets evacuated as fast as possible. A Level 3 evacuation alert means people should “GO NOW.”

East side Johnson Road homes had been given a Level 1 evacuation alert, which means to be prepared to potentially evacuate and for those not in the area to avoid going near in case the fire spreads to the area.

Traffic towards the affected areas are being diverted and it seems like Tyler Road was being closed off to the public. Johnson Road is being closed as well from OB Riley Road to Shevlin Park Road.

According to Bend Fire and Rescue, evacuated residents can’t go back to their homes because the fire has to be overhauled further and the smoke has to subside from the area before it can be deemed safe enough for the public.

Crews from Bend Fire and Rescue promptly rushed to the scene of the brush fire at a home on the 60000 block of Cinder Butte Road, but the fire started to spread quickly across a few lots, vehicles, and various debris spread around the area, KTVZ reported. People’s homes weren’t involved in the fire, and Sunriver, Cloverdale, and Alfalfa have dispatched mutual aid to assist with the fire.

The fire is around an acre in size and it was being overhauled by their crews, reported the My Central Oregon website.

Forward progress of the fire was stopped before around 4:30 p.m., and they were conducting a thorough overhaul that they say would take at least a few hours.

At about the same time, there was another large fire reported west of Bend at the 18000 block of Bull Springs Road.

There have been multiple escaped fires coming from burn piles due to the strength of the wind, which has led to multiple Central Oregon fire crews being dispatched to multiple areas.