A blaze near Hills Creek Reservoir in the Willamette National Forest , roughly 15 miles south of Oakridge , expanded to 80 acres on Wednesday, Aug. 26.
It ignited around 2:15 p.m. Oregon Hazard Lab detection cameras captured smoke rising consistently through the afternoon into the early evening, when the plume began to thin out.
The U.S. Forest Service, which holds primary jurisdiction over the land where the fire is burning, shut down the nearby Sand Prairie Campground. The agency urged the public to steer clear of the area and Forest Service Road 21.
Four aircraft, including helicopters, supported crews on the ground, alongside a bulldozer from the Oregon Department of Forestry and a Forest Service firefighting team. As of 8 p.m., workers had lined , either with hose or by digging a shallow trench , about 90 percent of the fire, with the Middle Fork Willamette River acting as a natural barrier along part of its edge.
Forest Service law enforcement and the Lane County Sheriff’s Office are looking into the cause of the fire. The Forest Service is also coordinating with Sierra Pacific Industries, whose timberlands adjoin the fire.
Wednesday’s fire scorched grass in an area beside burn scars from the 2024 Coffee Pot Fire, which was part of the broader South Willamette Complex. That complex dragged on for weeks and scorched more than 6,000 acres.
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