Fire burns 8,000 acres in Malheur County

Published 1:30 pm Monday, August 17, 2020

JUNTURA — A wildfire in Malheur County between Vale and Juntura grew rapidly after being reported Sunday afternoon, reaching 8,000 acres by Monday morning.

The Indian Creek Fire is burning northwest of Highway 20 about 13 miles east of Juntura, according to the Bureau of Land Management’s Vale District. That’s about 70 air miles south of Baker City.

Vale District crews worked well past midnight Sunday, extinguishing spot fires, cutting dozer lines and grading existing roads in the area to establish firelines. Nine aircraft dropped retardant to slow the fire’s spread Sunday and more water and retardant drops were coming Monday.

The blaze was reported Aug. 16 about 12:45 p.m. near Jonesboro. Its cause is under investigation.

Volunteers from the Juntura Rangeland Fire Protection Association responded to the fire, along with six single-engine air tankers, three multi-engine tankers, 10 fire engines, three bulldozers and two 20-person hand crews.

Strong winds helped the fire grow from about 1,000 acres at 6:30 p.m. to an estimated 5,000 acres by 9 p.m.

A Type 3 incident management team was taking command of the firefighting effort Monday.

Tracy Skerjanec, assistant fire management officer for the Vale District, noted extreme fire danger is expected to continue, with hot temperatures and a chance of thunderstorms with strong winds and lightning that could start new blazes.

The Indian Creek Fire burned around the Burns Paiute Ranch, but no structures were damaged. It is burning primarily on public land that is priority habitat for the sage grouse.

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