MADRAS, Ore. (AP) — A central Oregon wildfire sparked by lightning has expanded quickly in windy conditions, sweeping across nearly 5 1/2 square miles — or 3,500 acres — of juniper, sagebrush and grass east of U.S. Highway 97.
Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center spokeswoman Lisa Clark tells KTVZ (http://bit.ly/mOS62B) that structural protection crews have been called in to protect one home threatened by the fire. It’s believed to have started after more than 800 lightning strikes hit central Oregon on Monday. Clark says the Deadman Canyon Fire started on private land and moved onto federal Bureau of Land Management land on Tuesday afternoon.
KTVZ says Oregon highway officials were closing a section of State Highway 293 and urging a detour.
Planes, helicopters and ground crews are fighting the blaze.
Officials had no estimate of fire containment late Tuesday.
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Information from: KTVZ-TV, http://www.ktvz.com/
