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Officials Say Fire Near Bend Human Caused

Central Oregon Fire Info

Updated 6:17pm.

Firefighters had to scramble Tuesday afternoon to extinguish another wildfire on the outskirts of Bend.

Fire spokeswoman Lisa Clark says a lookout on Lava Butte spotted the smoke a near the trailhead of a popular mountain-biking area known as Phil's Trails on the western outskirts of Bend.   Helicopter and engine crews quickly put it out.

The new fire was about four miles from the southern flank of the Two Bulls Fire, which is being mopped up after burning more than 10 square miles. Clark said Tuesday that fire crews have a containment line all the way around the Two Bulls fire, and are working to strengthen it.

Bill Queen, with the Oregon Department of Forestry, says while investigators know that the Two Bulls fire was human-caused, they can't yet rule out arson.

"Was it a careless act with a campfire? Was it deliberate? They're continuing to look into that, because we just don't know that yet."

Cascade Timberlands has offered a 2-thousand dollar reward for information on how the fire started Saturday afternoon.
 

Schools in the vicinity of the the fires will reopen on Wednesday.  No make-up days will be scheduled.

Rachael McDonald is KLCC’s host for All Things Considered on weekday afternoons. She also is the editor of the KLCC Extra, the daily digital newspaper. Rachael has a BA in English from the University of Oregon. She started out in public radio as a newsroom volunteer at KLCC in 2000.
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