UPDATED 11:30 a.m. Saturday
A fire in Central Oregon is threatening homes in Deschutes and Jefferson Counties, including the outskirts of the communities of Sisters and Crooked River Ranch.
The Flat Fire sparked Thursday west of Culver and spread quickly, prompting evacuation notices. As of Saturday morning, it's grown to an estimated 18,754 acres, according to Central Oregon Fire Info.
The evacuation zone is a mixture of Levels 3 (GO NOW), Level 2 (BE SET) and Level 1 (BE READY). It stretches from Lake Billy Chinook to just outside of Sisters. As of 11:30 a.m. Saturday, the city of Sisters was not included in an evacuation zone. A map of evacuation zones that is updated in real-time can be found here.
There's an evacuation shelter set up by the American Red Cross at the Highland Baptist Church at 3100 SW Highland Ave. in Redmond.
According to the Oregon Department of Emergency Management, as of Saturday morning there were nearly 9,400 people living in an evacuation zone, with more than 2,100 of them in a Level 3 (GO NOW) zone.
Some of the evacuation zones border Oregon Highway 126 between Sisters and Redmond, but as of Saturday morning, the highway remained open, according to Tripcheck.com, a website operated by ODOT.
Gusty winds, low humidity and warm temperatures are making for challenging conditions for firefighters.
“This extreme heat and dry fuels have made control efforts hard,” said Ron Graham, Deputy Chief of ODF’s Protection Division in a press release issued Friday evening. “On the positive side, given the lower number of current fires state-wide there are a lot of resources available to send to the fire.”
On Friday morning, the Emergency Conflagration Act was invoked for the fire which allows the state fire marshal to mobilize resources.
Affecting air quality
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality issued an air quality advisory for much of Central Oregon because of smoke from the Flat Fire.
DEQ expects the air quality advisory to last at least until Monday evening.
Smoke levels can change depending on weather, you can check current conditions on the Oregon Smoke Information blog, DEQ's Air Quality Index or with the OregonAIR app.
Smoke can irritate the eyes and lungs and worsen some medical conditions.
The Willamette National Forest said smoke from the fire may be noticeable in the McKenzie River Corridor, but the fire itself lies entirely east of the Cascades crest.
