Link Fire at 2,100 acres

Friday, July 11, 7 a.m.

The Link Fire doubled in size yesterday, to 2,100 acres. Some law enforcement and fire personnel had believed the fire was even larger than that, at 3,500 acres, but that information turned out to be incorrect.

In any case, fire officials dropped the containment rating to 50 percent and backed off a projected Saturday time for full containment.

"Right now, our containment (date) is listed as unknown," said Fire Information Officer Brian Scott.

On Friday morning, Scott said the fire was still at least four miles from Black Butte Ranch and that the spread of the blaze was toward the south.

BBR emergency plans call for evacuation of the Ranch if a fire gets within two miles of the boundary. BBR went to a Phase II preparedness level on Thursday, putting structural protection units on a heightened state of alert.

Memories of last summer's Cache Mountain Fire, which destroyed two Ranch homes and forced a sudden emergency evacuation have kept local residents' nerves on edge.

Hot weather, with temperatures in the low-to-mid 90s, contributed to the growth of the fire on Thursday. Conditions were expected to be much the same on Friday, with the possibility of afternoon winds stirred by a low pressure system moving into Oregon.