Pole Creek Fire is contained

With the onset of wintry weather, the Pole Creek Fire has been declared 100-percent contained.

However, closures remain in place in a vast area south and west of Sisters, due to safety concerns related to the fire. Forest Service officials have indicated that closures may be modified this week.

Many folks in Sisters Country use the area to cut firewood for commercial or personal use, and the closure has impacted their activities. Sisters District Ranger Kristie Miller told The Nugget on Friday that there will be firewood available in the area.

"We're working on two commercial firewood sales as a result of the fire," she said.

Other wood will be available for personal cutting. Miller noted that popular areas along Forest Road 16 (Three Creek Road) were hard-hit by the fire and there may not be much to cut in those areas.

The Pole Creek Fire started on September 9, near the Pole Creek Trailhead. It grew rapidly and ultimately burned across 26,795 acres.

The fire was originally reported by a citizen to Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch at 6:30 a.m., but there was a delay in getting the report to the Forest Service for initial attack.

"It was an hour and a half, maybe two hours before we got the call," Miller told The Nugget.

The call came during a shift change and "they were dealing with several other smokes that were on the eastern side of the dispatch area," Miller said.

The district ranger said that it is hard to say what impact the delay had on the ultimate outcome of the fire.

"My personal feeling is that there's really no way to know," she said.

The lapse of time between first report and call-out was addressed in an after-action report, Miller said.