Red Cross opens evacuation point at Sumpter Center for Granite residents

Granite residents forced out by a Level 3 GO NOW evacuation order were directed to the Sumpter Community Center at 475 Mill St. in Sumpter, where Red Cross of Idaho and East Oregon volunteers opened a temporary evacuation point for people displaced by the Olive Butte Fire. The site was set up to give evacuees information and support as fire conditions changed quickly in the Blue Mountains.

The evacuation point could provide meals, water, first aid, charging stations, emotional support and access to multi-agency disaster resources. Anyone coming from Granite should treat the order as immediate and should not return until officials say it is safe. Level 3 means extreme danger and residents should leave right away.

Granite, in Grant County, has an estimated population of 93, while nearby Sumpter in Baker County has about 197 residents.

State fire officials also expanded the response to the Olive Butte Fire. The Oregon State Fire Marshal mobilized its Green Incident Management Team and four structural task forces, including protection teams from Clackamas, Lane and Washington counties. On July 11, Governor Tina Kotek invoked the Emergency Conflagration Act to help marshal statewide firefighting resources for the blaze in Grant County.

Granite grew after gold was discovered there in 1862, while Sumpter became a late-1800s mining boom town and is still known for its preserved dredge and railroad history.