Firefighters gain upper hand on Black Crater Fire

Firefighters seemed to have gained a strong hold on the 9,200-acre Black Crater Fire west of Sisters by Tuesday morning.

Tollgate residents, evacuated Saturday, July 29, as the fire spotted over notification lines, were allowed to return home at 6 p.m. on Monday evening. Residents of Crossroads and Edgington Road, who had been out of their homes since Thursday, July 27, anxiously awaited news that they, too, could go home.

Fire officials believed that the threat had diminished, but Incident Commander Mike Quesinberry cautioned that the Sisters area was "not out of the woods yet."

At a Monday morning briefing, Quesinberry told firefighters, "you've done a lot of firefighting; we've got a lot of firefighting left to do."

The blaze is considered about 30 percent contained, with strong lines at the eastern end of the fire where it had pushed hard toward residential areas. The southwestern "heel" of the fire remains uncontained, burning into the Three Sisters Wilderness. Quesinberry noted that weather conditions are expected to be tougher for firefighters by Friday and winds could again stir up the fire.

Captain Tim Edward's of the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office advised citizens that "this is still an active fire and returning residents should stay prepared to evacuate at a moments notice."

The Black Crater Fire was first reported at 11:17 a.m. on Monday, July 24, by a lookout on Henckle Butte. The blaze was almost certainly sparked by a lightning storm that rolled through the region Sunday night, July 23, dropping more than 500 lightning strikes.

The fire quickly threw a heavy plume of smoke into the air as local wild land firefighters plunged into the rough terrain on the slopes of the mountain.

While the Sisters Ranger District considered the blaze a high priority fire because of its potential to sweep west toward Sisters, the fire got few resources during the first couple of days. An air tanker that worked on the fire on Monday to good effect was pulled away to serve on another fire.

The lone helicopter on the fire was diverted Tuesday to battle a fire at Elk Lake where structures were threatened and evacuations had been triggered.

Firefighting resources remained scarce on Wednesday and by Thursday, July 27, evacuation plans were in place in case the fire blew up and threatened residential areas.

And blow up it did. Pushed by gusty winds, the fire moved about a mile in 45 minutes, crossing a pre-established evacuation notification line and triggering the evacuation of Crossroads and Edgington Road.

The threat to homes boosted the fire to the top priority in the country and more crews, engines and air forces moved into the area. A tense couple of days followed, with residents of the City of Sisters waiting to see if they, too, would be put on notice to be ready to evacuate.

Tollgate was evacuated Saturday afternoon after the fire spotted across a trigger line.

But that night firefighters launched a burnout operation along an eight mile front of the fire, burning off fuels to starve the fire. The operation worked and, as temperatures dropped and humidity rose, fire crews finally went on the offensive.

Through Sunday and Monday fire crews secured and reinforced lines, aided by a nearly constant barrage of airdrops. By Tuesday, with danger diminished, firefighters were buckling down for the long struggle to contain and mop up - with their eye on holding onto the fire as hot weather and westerly winds return.