Two wildfires near La Grande contained after multi-agency response
Two small fires west of La Grande sent crews scrambling along I-84, with the cause still unknown and one blaze still in cleanup days later.
Two small wildfires along I-84 west of La Grande forced a multi-agency response near Hilgard and Perry, where crews worked to keep the flames away from homes, rail lines and highway traffic on Monday, June 8.
The larger blaze, the Five Points Fire near Five Points Creek, grew to about 2 acres. The Perry Fire covered roughly half an acre. Both were reported around 1:45 p.m. and were contained without any reported injuries, damage or evacuations, a result that mattered in a corridor where open ground, transportation routes and scattered structures can complicate suppression work fast.
Crews stayed on scene until about 9 p.m., showing how much labor even a pair of small fires can demand in dry brush country. By June 10, Oregon Department of Forestry District Forester Justin Lauer said two ODF engines and a small U.S. Forest Service hand crew were still assisting with final cleanup at the Five Points Fire, while the Perry Fire had already been fully mopped up.
The response brought together the U.S. Forest Service, Oregon Department of Forestry, Union Pacific Railroad, Oregon State Police, the Union County Sheriff's Office, the La Grande Rural Fire Protection District, the La Grande Fire Department and other fire and EMS agencies. That level of coordination underscored how quickly a spark near the interstate can become a regional public-safety issue, especially west of La Grande where I-84, railroad infrastructure and nearby open land sit close together.
The cause of both fires had not been determined in the June 11 report, leaving investigators still working to piece together how they started. That uncertainty comes as Union County is already under regulated use fire season, which began June 3 after the Union County Board of Commissioners approved an early start recommended by the Union County Fire Defense Board because of increasingly dry conditions across the county.
Under the county’s restrictions, no open burning is allowed except by special permit for agricultural burning or exemption, and the season is scheduled to run through September 30 unless it is extended or modified. State and federal fire agencies say fire season brings added limits on outdoor and work-related activities, and public-use restrictions on the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest can also curb campfires, smoking, off-road travel, generators and recreation-related chainsaw use. With a 2.4-million-acre forest system and offices in Baker City, La Grande and Joseph, the regional agency presence is built for exactly this kind of fast-moving early-season risk.
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