Crews securing fire lines, mopping up hot spots
By Barney Lerten, KTVZ.COM
A wildfire sparked by an overheated motor home on Juniper Canyon Road south of Prineville burned 40 acres Saturday, threatening homes in the area for a time, but crews made good progress over the weekend and reached full containment Monday evening.
Fire crews were busy Monday securing fire lines on the Juniper Canyon Fire, about five miles south of Prineville, said Lisa Clark of the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center in Prineville. She said firefighters from Crook County Fire and Rescue and the Prineville BLM spent Sunday putting out remaining hot spots on the fire line and starting to mop up the fire's interior.
The fire was fully lined Monday morning and fire managers declared full containment at 6 p.m. after remaining Crook County Fire crews spent the day mopping up small, smoldering spots.
The blaze resulted in no injuries or lost structures, thanks to a quick, united effort by several local, state and federal agencies.
Juniper Canyon Road was open to traffic, but Clark said motorists should use caution due to emergency vehicles and crews working in the area.
Saturday afternoon's fire shut the road and prompted hurried but voluntary evacuations of both residents and animals.
The blaze was reported around 2:45 p.m. about five miles southeast of Prineville and by 6 p.m. had burned 20-25 acres, spreading from the motor home to a nearby hillside on the east side of the canyon, fanned by 20 mph winds, Clark said Saturday.
Shortly before 5 p.m., fire managers said things were "looking good" on getting the fire under control. Clark said three "heavy" air tankers dropped loads of retardant, helping crews get the blaze knocked down.
For a time, sheriff's deputies and SAR crews were going to homes and giving out "pre-evacuation notices" to residents in the area, alerting them to the fire and to be ready to quickly leave, should the situation worsen.
But by 6:45 p.m., the threat of evacuations was over as the fire activity diminished, according to fire managers on the scene. Crews were preparing to reopen the road, about four hours after the blaze was ignited.
Jerry Hunt shared with NewsChannel 21 these photos of the Juniper Canyon Fire SE of Prineville Saturday afternoon 
Davis Loop resident Ron Jakabosky shot photos of air tanker retardant drop on Juniper Canyon Fire, burning about 3/4 of a mile away Saturday afternoon
Earlier, two helicopters, the Central Oregon Helitack crew and a single-engine air tanker (SEAT) were rushed in to battle the flames under unified command between COIDC and Crook County Fire and Rescue, Clark said. Six engines from the Forest Service, Prineville BLM and Oregon Department of Forestry were called in.
A command post was set up at Juniper Rock Products on Juniper Canyon Road, which was closed to southbound traffic at Davis Loop Road and northbound at Hilltop Road.
Worried residents at homes along Buebird Lane, closest to the fire, called in sheriff's deputies to help prepare for potential evacuation, and the Red Cross was contacted as well.
A voluntary evacuation was happening of scattered homes in the area of primarily 2-5 acre lots, with the Red Cross setting up a shelter at the Calvary Baptist Church, 2241 N. Main St. in Prineville, Clark said.
The county fairgrounds were being used to house any evacuated livestock, as citizens offered horse trailers for transportation.
Fire crews were called back to the motor home at least twice more and it was reported fully engulfed in flames around 5:30 p.m.
Undersheriff Jim Hensley told NewsChannel 21, "It's ironic, because this is an area that a couple weeks ago, the road department was up here trying to create firebreaks on the side of the road, for a buffer zone for this type of event, and there was some complaining about the fact that that's what they were trying to do in this area."
Indeed, recently some young residents protested removal of what they called a wetland on the roadside, but county officials denied it was a defined wetland.
