The fire was easier to suppress thanks to fuels reduction.

The short article below is about one of the mitigation projects overseen by Oregon Emergency Management which involved fuels reduction work done in conjunction with the Forest Service along the road side (HWY 20). Because of this work prior to fire season,the fire was easily suppressed and kept to about ½ acre…



-by Don Shurtleff

Instead of being a tragedy, a brush fire northwest of Sisters this weekend turned out to be an example of what works. 911 dispatchers starting getting calls about smoke along Highway 20, near Tollgate, just after 2 on Saturday afternoon. The Black Butte Fire Tower confirmed the smoke and said the fire was spreading rapidly. Lisa Clark with the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch (COID) says the fire was started by lightning that smoldered for several days before flaring up. It was in an area where fires can easily get out of control. Clark says the fuel reduction project really did its job by keeping the flames low to the ground and away from tree limbs.