Firefighters make progress on Rooster Rock Fire -Tuesday, August 3, 8:30 p.m.

Last updated Aug 03, 2010 12:0pm0

Gary Miller count

Citizens attend fire update meeting Tuesday evening at elementary school.

Incident Commander Mark Rapp of Sisters expressed cautious satisfaction at the progress made last night and today on the roughly 2,700-acre Rooster Rock Fire burning southeast of town.

In the absence of strong winds and exceptionally high temperatures and low humidity, Rapp told citizens at a public meeting Tuesday night, "we're confident we'll have a pretty good line around this thing in the next day or so."

The fire is only 5 percent contained and no containment date has been set. Rapp said his team will remain cautious about official containment percentages.

The northern fire line facing homes in Plainview and Ponderosa Cascade is holding up well, Rapp said, and the prevailing wind is pushing the fire toward the southeast.

"I would say that there's a slight chance something could slip out there (toward the north), but that's not what we expect based on the predicted weather," Rapp said.

The fire threw out a 50-acre spot at the head of the main blaze this afternoon, which sent a new plume of smoke into the air south of Plainview. According to Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch, a significant amount of resources are currently working to contain the spot fire.

Rapp said there has been some "slop-over" along the southern perimeter.

"They should be able to pick these up tonight," he said.

A dozen bulldozers are cutting line in the area.

Residents who evacuated the area yesterday did not get a solid answer as to when they would be allowed back into their homes. For recorded information regarding evacuation reentry status, residents can call the Deschutes County Sheriff evacuation line at 541-550-4886.

Several of those who evacuated said they respond immediately when sheriff's deputies knocked on their doors and told them that there was a Level 2 evacuation in effect - meaning that it was advisable to leave.

"At that point, it's not worth it," said Tammy Taylor, whose home is on the exposed edge of Ponderosa Cascade. "When they told us 'this is your only warning,' we took it as a pretty good indication that it was burning pretty good."

Since she and her husband Jeff have a motor home, they figured it was best to pack up and just get out of the way.

For many residents, the worst of the event was the heavy smoke that descended over their homes in the early hours of the morning as an inversion pressed down under cooling temperatures.

One storage outbuilding was confirmed lost in yesterday's action. Some 550 personnel are assigned to the fire. Resources currently assigned to or enroute to the Rooster Rock Fire include 20 engines, 21 hand crews, five helicopters, 10 water tenders, and 12 dozers

Rooster Rock Fire grew quickly

The Rooster Rock Fire started in the Whychus Creek Canyon west of Three Creeks Road.

When it was first reported at 11:44 a.m. on Monday and firefighters responded to the scene, the found an acre-and-a-half blazing away.

"There's not real good access," Incident Commander Mark Rapp told citizens at a Tuesday evening public meeting at Sisters Elementary School. "It's down in the bottom of the canyon there."

The helicopter called in to attack the fire had a mechanical failure and had to turn back.

"There was a little delay in response in terms of aerial support," Rapp said.

But the main problem was hot weather and stiffening winds. Spot fires are the enemy to those trying to stop fires when they're small and the enemy quickly got the upper hand.

"It spotted across the road and we were pretty much off and running," said Rapp. "The fire did burn very intensely - what we refer to as a running crown fire."

It ran all afternoon, with scanner traffic indicating flames of 70 feet at times. For about seven miles the fire marched southeast threatening scattered homes in the forest south of town and ultimately leading to the precautionary evacuation of approximately 30 homes in the Plainview area.

Sisters District Ranger Bill Anthony noted that the Sisters Country is about halfway through the fire season and the Rooster Rock Fire isn't going to simply be put out.

"There's still at least two solid months of hot, dry weather before the fall rains," he said. "In reality, this fire may burn till then in hot spots."

The first day of a major fire is difficult as crews mobilize and organize to try to catch up with a roiling monster with the wind at its back.

"When it heats up and the wind gets on it," Anthony said. "the fire's going to do pretty much what it wants to do."

While the fire was fairly active overnight, crews made solid progress, and the wind didn't pick up again until late in the afternoon on Tuesday. Barring winds or an adverse weather event, Rapp believes the blaze will be lined in a day or two and firefighters may have gained the upper hand on the fast-moving Rooster Rock Fire.