Crews attacked a new wildfire from the ground and the air on Monday in the Three Sisters Wilderness in eastern Lane County.
The Piper Fire was reported around 3 p.m. Monday near the Lane County border with Deschutes County. Some sources are referring to it as the Piper Lake Fire.
Around 8 p.m. Monday, the Willamette National Forest reported the fire had grown to approximately 20 acres. "Aviation resources responding include smokejumpers, rappellers, and airtankers," according to a social media post by the Forest.
The fire is not close to any populated areas and no evacuations had been issued on Monday evening. The fire is about three miles northeast of the Skookum Creek Campground, a remote, nine-site tent campground.
The cause of the fire has not been announced, but forest officials said thunderstorms were reported in the area during the afternoon.
The storms may also be responsible for at least 13 new fire starts in central Oregon Monday. According to Central Oregon Fire Info, the largest of these fires was approximately 2 acres. Fire crews were expected to work overnight to contain the fires. As of Monday evening, no evacuations had been issued in Deschutes County.
The possibility of additional thunderstorms has prompted a Red Flag Warning for central Oregon on Tuesday.
"While these storms may produce wetting rains, there is still high confidence in the probability of isolated dry thunderstorms embedded," the National Weather Service said in a forecast issued Monday afternoon for much of Central Oregon.
Areas west of the Cascades could receive dangerous lightning later in the week, according to the NWS. The agency has issued a "Fire Weather Watch" for eastern Lane and Linn Counties, as well as most of Douglas County for Wednesday and Thursday.
"Abundant lightning on dry fuels (could result) in the potential for numerous new fire starts," the Weather Service said.
