Lightning sparks fire on Black Crater

Lightning spiked from the black clouds over Black Crater west of Sisters on Wednesday, August 4, sparking a fire that covered about 1/4 acre just to the north of the mountain, according to Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch in Prineville.

A pair of helicopters dropped water on the fire to hold it in check while a ground crew hiked into the fire area. The crew worked on the fire overnight.

Black Crater lies to the north of North Sister and is accessible from a trailhead just beyond the McKenzie Summit.

"It was in heavy, dense, downed fuels with limited access," a dispatch spokesman reported.

The spokesman said firefighters hoped to have the fire contained by 6 p.m. Thursday evening.

Two other fires were reported near Black Pine Springs on the road to Three Creek Lake south of Sisters and there were approximately 10 fire starts in the Cline Buttes area just west of Eagle Crest Resort.

The thunderstorms brought more moisture than predicted. The Colgate Station west of Crossroads measured .13 inches of rain over four hours Wednesday night.

Weather forecasts call for possible lightning activity tonight in advance of a warming trend that will bring hot summer weather back to Central Oregon over the weekend.

Such conditions always raise concerns about hold-over fires that start up sometimes weeks after a storm as smoldering trees ignite as temperatures rise and humidity drops.

"We want to knock these (fires) out and find them while we've got this level of humidity," the dispatch spokesman said.