09/17/08 Crescent Lake Area
As of 10am Wednesday:
Highway 58 is expected to remain closed through Wednesday in the Crescent Lake Area as fire crews continue battling a 600 acre fire.
Governor Theodore Kulongoski has declared the Royce Butte fire 12 miles west of Crescent Lake as a conflagration. The declaration cleared the way for the state fire marshal to mobilize firefighters and equipment to assist local resources battling the fire. The request to invoke the Oregon Conflagration Act was made by Klamath County Fire Defense Board Chief John Ketchum.
According to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center, the fire started at 3 p.m. September 16. Dry fuel conditions along with an unstable air pattern cause the fire to move rapidly with extreme fire behavior. The fire has burned more than 1,100 acres of grass and brush and threatens 200 structures. Evacuations have taken place in the Crescent Lake Junction community, Diamond Peaks subdivision (east of Crescent Lake Junction), East Odell Lodge and summer homes at Crescent and Odell Lakes. The Oregon Department of Transportation has closed Highway 58 near milepost 70.
The Office of State Marshal's Red Incident Management Team and structural task forces from Deschutes and Lane counties are en-route. A Klamath County structural task force is on scene.
Oregon's conflagration may be invoked only by the Governor and allows the State Fire Marshal to dispatch structural firefighters and equipment. More information on Conflagration and Emergency Mobilization is available at OSFM website:
9/16/08 Crescent Lake Junction
by Ariel Wesler
Fire officials are calling this the Royce Butte Fire. It's a human-caused wildfire, reported at about 2pm Tuesday.
The U.S. Forest Service says the fire has burned roughly six hundred acres and is moving in a southwesterly direction. The fire jumped Highway 58 and has burned several miles on each side. One hundred homes and 120 people were evacuated. The Cresent Community Club served as a Red Cross shelter. Residents there will not be allowed to return home tonight, so the red cross has set up cots. Some are concerned about loved ones that volunteered to fight the fire. Others just hope their homes will be spared.
"You know, you just grab your important photos and yeah, we put a lot of effort, like a lot of people here into our homes,” Evacuee Sally Carlson said.
“To see a place you've seen so many times, and to have a fire right behind it. It literally seemed like about 500 to 1000 yards away,” Evacuee Jim Douglas said.
“The emergency response vehicle showed up with our water, gatorade, juice, snacks. We ordered food for the folks so they'd have something to eat,” Red Cross Volunteer Stu Martinez said.
These pictures were taken by Jim Douglas, one of the evacuees from Crescent Lake Junction. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Fire officials say so far no structures have been lost. Highway 58 between Willamette Pass and Crescent Lake Junction will remain closed through at least Wednesday.
