Ore. campground fire grows to 200 acres

PORTLAND  — A human-caused fire broke out at a state park campground in Central Oregon and quickly grew to 200 acres Saturday, destroying two homes and several outbuildings.

An Oregon State Police fire investigator will look into the specific cause of the blaze, which began at Cove Palisades State Park north of Bend, the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center said.

About 60 people were evacuated from a small subdivision west of Culver. Firefighters were challenged by strong winds, steep slopes and dry fuels.

To the east, firefighters battling a massive wildfire briefly evacuated the southern half of the town of Prairie City and surrounding areas after strong winds pushed flames closer to the town of about 900 people.

The fire made one run off the mountains into the grasslands and burned “a finger” that came within 1.5 miles of Prairie City, said Vince Mazzier, a firefighting spokesman.

In Central Washington, crews battling the Okanogan Complex Fire were encouraged that fire lines seemed to be holding despite strong winds. Winds pushed the flames toward unburned areas inside the fire’s perimeter, said Nick Mickel, a spokesman for fire crews.

“Maybe the fire activity isn’t increasing, but we’ve had some limbs and trees go down,” Mickel said. “For the sake of firefighter safety, we’re pulling some of them off the lines until the winds calm down.”