Over 1,000 homes remain on evacuation alerts as wildfire burns in central Oregon

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Crews race to contain fast-moving wildfire in central Oregon

The Darlene 3 fire has burned nearly 3,900 acres in the Deschutes National Forest about 30 miles from Bend, Oregon. (Video courtesy: HAZE Media via Storyful)

LA PINE, Ore. – Fire crews continued to battle a raging wildfire in central Oregon that has scorched nearly 3,900 acres and has residents of over 1,000 homes on evacuation alert.

The Darlene 3 fire exploded to life Tuesday afternoon in the Deschutes National Forest just outside the town of La Pine, about 30 miles south of Bend. In the hours after the fire started, urgent immediate evacuation orders went out along homes and campgrounds along Highway 97 just on the east side of town.  

Firefighters were later able to downgrade some evacuations to "be ready" status, but the threat remains as the fire is only 30% contained and continues to present challenges for firefighters.

WHAT SHOULD BE IN YOUR EVACUATION 'GO' BAG DURING WILDFIRE SEASON

For one, breezy westerly winds are spreading the fire farther east into the Deschutes National Forest, and both power lines and water sources stationed inside the fire perimeter remain threatened.

"We had some setbacks … with fire on power lines. Both the (Bonneville Power Administration) and Midstate (Electric) power lines were impacted with short power outages," Darlene 3 Fire incident commander Robert Newey said during a fire update Wednesday afternoon. "And then also impacts to the water supply of both (the city of) La Pine and firefighting efforts … We are working with power companies to get in once it's safe to get all the power lines back online."

Firefighters continue to fight the fire from the ground and the air, but "there are a lot of unburnt fuels throughout the area," Newey said.

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek has invoked the state's Emergency Conflagration Act, which allows for more state resources to head to the region and help with the firefighting efforts.

Damon Schultz, operations manager with the Oregon State Fire Marshal team on site, says just over 1,000 homes in the area remain in various evacuation levels, "and we’re going to see what we can do to improve that." For those under mandatory evacuations, shelter is available at La Pine High School.

WHAT DO LEVEL 1, 2, AND 3 EVACUATIONS MEAN DURING WILDFIRES?

Firefighters have been establishing control lines on the northern and western sides of the fire, aiming to protect those homes and structures.

"We need to mention how impressed we were with the local resources and what took place (Tuesday)," Schultz said. "That we have control lines is actually pretty good for this. They did an amazing job with La Pine rural (fire department) being assisted by almost all the other central Oregon fire departments."

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The Deschutes National Forest is home to 1.6 million acres of land and is a popular year-round recreation spot.