Firefighters gained the upper hand on a fast-moving wildfire southeast of Veneta Thursday afternoon, allowing the Lane County Sheriff to reduce evacuation levels in the area.
The fire was first reported around 3 p.m. and quickly spread. Around 4 p.m., the Lane County Sheriff urgently warned people in the community just south of the Perkins Peninsula to evacuate. According to the Oregon Office of Emergency Management's wildfire dashboard, approximately 182 people live in the evacuation zone.
Shortly before 5 p.m., the Oregon Department of Forestry — Western Lane District announced on Facebook that the fire's forward progress had been stopped.
Firefighters are "securing the perimeter with hand and dozer line and cooling down the interior," the post said. "Resources will be on scene most of the evening and possibly overnight keeping an eye on containment lines and assuring it doesn't spread."
Around 6:30 p.m., the Sheriff's office announced that evacuation levels were being reduced from Level 3 (GO NOW) to Level 1 (BE READY), meaning people in the neighborhood could return home.
The evacuations apply "all residences on Halderson Road, west to Central Road between Perkins Road and Cantrell Road," according to the sheriff.
ODF said the fire was three to four acres in size. The Watch Duty app reports an incident commander on scene as saying the blaze ultimately grew to around 15 acres.
Barring additional developments, this will be the final update on this story.