Car parts cause fire near Sisters

A car traveling down the McKenzie Highway on Tuesday, August 21, dropped hot parts from a broken catalytic converter on the roadway, causing seven small fires in roadside brush.

Firefighters from Sisters, the Forest Service and Oregon Department of Forestry swiftly knocked the fires down.

"It actually wasn't moving anywhere," said Sisters Assistant Chief Ryan Karjala. "It was in one of the prescribed burn areas that the Forest Service did."

Recent rains kept heavier brush across the road from igniting.

No one knows what happened to the car.

"We never did find the vehicle," Karjala reported.

Recent cool, damp weather pushed fire danger down to the moderate level earlier in the month, but a warming trend moved into the area over the weekend, and the Sisters region remains at risk from wildfire.