Nearly 2,000 people have been ordered to evacuate – some for the second time in a year – as heat and dry winds continue to fuel a wildfire near Sisters, Oregon.
At least one home had been destroyed by Thursday morning, and more than 10,000 people were told to prepare for the possibility they may also need to evacuate.
Fire officials said a massive pyrocumulus cloud had formed over the Akawa Butte Fire Wednesday afternoon, creating its own weather system, which brought lightning and led to some extreme fire behavior.
Tim Draxler, 79, and his wife Barbara Draxler, 78, were among those who evacuated during the storm. They’ve lived near Sisters for more than 20 years but had never been under Level 3 “Go Now” evacuation orders until Wednesday, when they grabbed what they could and drove toward the temporary shelter in Sisters in the thick of a thunderstorm.
“It was pouring,” Barbara said. “Lightning coming everywhere.”
They made it to shelter with their 3-year-old dog, Gracie, and important documents, supplies and family photographs.
“I have some of the dog and I have some I’ve been working on for my grandson,” Barbara said as Gracie began barking loudly beside her. “I didn’t want to lose that after preparing it. I take lots of pictures.”
Though they don’t know how long they will be at the shelter, for now, they say, they’re doing fine.
“We have a lot of family praying for us,” Barbara said.
Though firefighting crews said rain calmed the fire some on Wednesday evening, more people were told to prepare to evacuate as conditions worsened Thursday.
During the respite brought by the rain, Incident Commander Craig Pettinger encouraged firefighters, saying, “We’ve been handed a gift, and we need to take advantage of this break in the weather.”
Crews overnight focused on control lines along the southern and western sides of the fire, while structural resources continued to triage on protecting homes in the fire’s path.
Evacuating for the second time in a year
“Some people from the neighborhood who are fighting the fire said, as of last night, our homes were still there,” Tim Flynn, who evacuated from his subdivision on the edge of Sisters, said on Thursday. “The rain actually helped, but there was a lot of spread toward us.”
During the Flat Fire last August, Flynn’s neighborhood was protected by firefighters for nights on end, and not a single house in their subdivision was lost. Now his family has evacuated for the second time in a year.
Flynn said he and his two kids were doing OK, though a few of their cats were unaccounted for. So far, he thinks their home is safe, despite worsening conditions Thursday.
“It seems like they were able to establish a pretty good line so I’m hopeful it won’t come down to a house to house protection,” he said. “I’m buoyed not only by the serious amount of resources they’re throwing at this but also by my kids. This time their resilience is really shining through.”
Anxiety among business owners as fire inches closer
Marla Stevens has owned Painted Lady Antiques in downtown Sisters for about eight years. As the fire continues to progress, Stevens says she’s keeping a close eye on conditions and updated evacuation orders.
For now, she says it’s important to stay open, but she’s ready to close up shop if things get worse.
“It’s important, but family is more important and people’s lives are more important than this business being open,” she said.
Like others around town, Stevens says she’s feeling anxious but is keeping herself busy at the store. Other businesses, she says, have already closed their doors because their families or structures are in Level 2 or 3 evacuation zones.
While at the store, she says she’s been looping tourists in on the fire. Stevens says many visitors are unaware of the fire until they arrive.
Tourists like 18-year-old Sophia Villatoro from Riverside, California. She’s visiting Sisters for a family reunion that’s been in the works for more than a year. It’s her first time in Oregon.
“I’m not really sure where the fires are stemming from, but I think it’s sad,” Villatoro said. “I know we get fires in California and it’s devastating there because people lose houses and property and so I can’t imagine how people are feeling here, especially since there’s so much greenery around, I feel like it lights faster probably.”
Villatoro recalls how the green landscape on the drive to Sisters turned brown along the roadside.
“We’re like, ‘Oh, what’s that?’ And then we started to smell it,” she said. “It was shocking a little bit.”
The Akawa Butte Fire, sparked by lightning last week, was burning more than 26,000 acres in Deschutes and Jefferson counties as of Thursday morning. Its perimeter was listed at 3% containment.
The sheriff’s office has been posting evacuation updates on its Facebook page.
A shelter for evacuees from the Akawa Butte Fire is available at Sisters High School, at 1700 W. McKinney Butte Rd. in Sisters.
A community meeting about the fire will be held at Sisters High School on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. It will be livestreamed on the Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District Facebook page.
Courtney Sherwood and Amanda Linares contributed to this report.
This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.