Firefighters knock down illegal burn

An illegal debris fire on Paladin Drive east of Sisters rekindled Thursday afternoon, July 13, and burned three-quarters of an acre before being controlled by the Cloverdale Rural Fire Protection District and others, according to Captain John Thomas.

“The fire burned only sagebrush and cheat grass and did no property damage,” Thomas said. “There were no injuries to firefighters.”

A resident had burned a pile of shingles around 6 a.m. without checking to find out that his burning permit was not valid because of increasing fire danger, Thomas explained.

The resident thought he had extinguished the fire before he left to drive to Sisters.

“When he returned, he found our crews there controlling the escaped fire that had rekindled and spread outside of his fire area,” Thomas said.

Three engines from the Cloverdale district, three from the Oregon Department of Forestry and one from the Sisters Ranger District responded to the fire.

It was not clear at press time whether any legal action will be taken because of the illegal fire.

About the same time, an engine from the Sisters-Camp Sherman Rural Fire Protection District responded to a fire alarm at Sisters Elementary School. However, that turned out to be a false alarm, according to Captain Thornton Brown.