Culver, Ore. –Approximately forty campers from the E Loop of Cove Palisades State Park Campground and sixty residents from a nearby subdivision were evacuated earlier today as fire pushed by strong winds quickly burned through sagebrush, juniper and grass.
Local farmers spotted the fire around 10:30 am and took action to suppress it until fire personnel arrived. Firefighters from Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF), and Ochoco and Deschutes National Forests joined firefighters from Jefferson County Rural Fire Department #1 to check the spread of the fire.
Emergency personnel from Oregon State Police and Warm Springs Police Department assisted Sheriff Jim Adkins and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office in notifying residents and campers to evacuate the area.
The evacuation order has been lifted and evacuees have returned to their homes and camps. Two vacant homes and several outbuildings were destroyed by the fire, but no injuries to the public or emergency personnel were reported.
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