MADRAS, OR -- Jefferson County Fire and Forestry crews are working two fires in the Grassland northeast of Madras. One is burning private land along Highway 97, near milepost 87. It's known as Incident 639 and was estimated at 450 acres, Tuesday afternoon. The second, known as Incident 638, quickly grew to 1,500 acres on the Crooked River National Grassland, just south of milepost 87.

Both fires were reported around 4 p.m. Tuesday and put up a lot of smoke. They are now being managed as one fire called the "Emerson Fire" and as of late Tuesday was estimated at about 5,000 acres.