Escaped cooking fire blamed for blaze

A 42-year-old man was cited for reckless burning after his cooking fire escaped and spread into the forest near Sisters.

On July 1 at approximately 10:47 a.m., the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office received a call of a fire on USFS land west of the City of Sisters, along the Forest Road 100 spur.

When deputies arrived on scene, the fire was approximately 25 yards in diameter. The fire department was able to get a line around the fire and keep it from spreading further.

Investigation determined that Bryan Baumann was camping in the area and had started a cooking fire. The fire escaped and quickly started spreading. Baumann attempted to put the fire out, but was unable to do so. Baumann ran to a nearby business to get help.

He was transported by ground ambulance to St. Charles in Redmond with non-life-threatening injuries. Baumann was issued a citation to appear in court for reckless burning.

No evacuations were necessary due to the location and size of the fire.

The Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Black Butte Police Department.

Last week’s blaze was just the latest in a series of small fires around Sisters.

In June, a fire broke out in the woods about five miles west of Sisters, about a quarter-mile northwest of Zimmerman Butte. Firefighters from the Forest Service and Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District (SCSFD) responded quickly and kept it confined to 6/10 of an acre. Fire officials reported that the fire was human-caused, but could not determine specifically what sparked the blaze.

On Wednesday, June 2, U.S. Forest Service firefighters knocked down the blaze that started from an unattended and escaped campfire about three miles west of Sisters off Highway 20. The fire was about 1.2 acres in size.

The previous week, on May 28, a trailer burned to the ground on the outskirts of town near the north end of Pine Street, with the fire spreading to adjacent trees and brush.

According to fire officials, an interview with the owner of the trailer indicated that the most likely cause of the fire was an unattended propane-fired heating unit that was left too close to combustibles inside the trailer.

The owner of the trailer, George Descuillo, reached out to The Nugget last week. He said that he saw the fire that consumed his trailer as he was walking back to it from the store.

“I knew I didn’t have a campfire there, so I called 911,” he said. “I was explaining for 15 minutes how big this fire was getting.”

He acknowledged that the fire was accidentally caused.

“It had to have been the little burner that was on,” he said. “That’s the only thing I can think of.”

Descuillo said that he is working on getting the site cleaned up.

“It’s going to get cleaned up,” he said. “I’m in the process of that right now.”

That effort is complicated by lack of the ability to haul.

“I have no way to get it out of there,” he said.

A tearful Descuillo said he feels terrible about the incident.

“I don’t want people to think I’m a bad person,” he said. “I did not mean to do it.”

Descuillo lost everything in the fire, including personal identification — and his art work.

“All my drawings,” he said wistfully. “That’s one thing I’d like to have back.”

Descuillo reported that a person from his church has supplied him with a replacement trailer, and Wellhouse Church members bought him a backpack to hold what little possessions he has left.

“It’s the best thing in my world,” he said of the trailer.

Drought conditions have made for an early and menacing fire season in Sisters Country. Extreme care should be exercised when camping or recreating in the woods around Sisters.

The Sheriff’s Office reminds citizens that campfires are currently not allowed in dispersed campsites. They are only allowed in designated campgrounds and in a fire ring.

Temperatures remain high and conditions are extremely dry in local forests. All fireworks are banned. Drivers should stay on roadways; hot vehicle undercarriages can easily spark fire in dry grasses.