Black Butte blaze quashed quickly

Firefighters quickly subdued a small, lightning-caused blaze near the summit of Black Butte last week, alleviating potential danger to the region's most important fire lookout.

On Tuesday morning, August 24, Forest Service employee Larry Lohman smelled smoke on his way to work. Lohman hikes two miles to get to his "office," the lookout tower atop Black Butte.

According to Sisters Ranger District assistant fire management officer Mark Rapp, Lohman smelled smoke that morning, but he could not see any sign of fire from the 65-foot lookout tower. Later that afternoon, a column of smoke began to rise less than a mile from Lohman's post.

"The report came from Hinkle (Butte) lookout with a column developing and changes in smoke color," explained Rapp. "Darker color usually indicates an active fire spreading instead of smoldering."

Rapp said the "sleeper" fire - started from a lightning strike the previous evening - was officially reported just after 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. The Hinkle Butte lookout plotted the blaze on the east-southeast side of Black Butte and 3/4 of the way up the cone-shaped mountain. The column of smoke was visible from downtown Sisters.

"There are no roads up there, and knowing there were limited (personnel and equipment) available due to other fires in the region, we called for a helicopter with a bucket from Warm Springs," Rapp said. "They reported the fire was one-half acre in size with open flames and isolated torching, burning on the south edge of the old (1981) Black Butte fire."

Long-time Sisters residents likely remember the blaze in September 1981 that burned more than 200 acres on the north and east sides of Black Butte's summit. The scars from that burn are still visible today.

According to Rapp, the Warm Springs helicopter dropped a "helitack" team of three firefighters atop Black Butte. After connecting the water bucket to the helicopter, the team hiked down to the fire, while the helicopter headed for the Fly Creek ponds, near Thorn Springs, to pick up water.

"We gathered miscellaneous district personnel to put a crew together to hike up the east side," Rapp said. "The helicopter pilot recommended an air tanker.

The fire was becoming more active and the wind was getting on it, and due to the (lack of) accessibility and the time of day we ordered a load of retardant.

"The helicopter dropped about 20 50-gallon buckets of water and the air tanker dropped (its) load," Rapp said. "We knocked it down, and the helitack team was able to (prevent) its spread with the assistance from the helicopter and tanker."

The fire burned approximately one acre of forest adjacent to the historic 1981 fire and less than one-half mile from the summit of Black Butte.

"We were considering evacuating the tower," Rapp said. "(Lohman) would have had to leave on foot, or by helicopter if it was a higher threat."

More than 24 hours after the fire was contained, no smoke or "hot spots" could be detected, according to Rapp.

He said the lookout personnel would check on the area daily by hiking down to the burned area and "cold trailing," using their hands to feel the burned ground for any sign of recurrence.