A fire that broke out Thursday afternoon in Shevlin Park is officially contained as of midnight. The blaze, which was first reporter by a hiker just before 1:30 pm, grew from less than one-tenth of an acre to about 10 acres in the first two hours. Bend Fire issued a Stage 1 Evacuation Order for the 3 Pines and Shevlin Commons subdivisions, which has since been lifted.
At the height of the wildfire, 19 units from different agencies—including the Oregon Department of Forestry and Deschutes National Forest—were on the scene and wildland fire task force was activated. Fire Battalion Chief Dave Howe told reporters that the Shevlin Park fire crept into areas that burned in 1990’s Awbrey Hall Fire.
“We’re talking about 25 years worth of fuel,” Howe said.
The Awbrey Hall fire burned more than 3,000 acres and destroyed 22 homes.
By late afternoon, firefighters were “cautiously optimistic” they could contain the blaze to 8-10 acres. Because the fire occurred just days after the official start of fire season, more resources were available to fight the fire than there might be later in the season.
Smoke from the fire could be seen and smelt across town. Below are a few shots from Mt. Washington Drive.
This article appears in Jun 10-17, 2015.
MAKE LOCAL JOURNALISM HAPPEN
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
