SISTERS, Ore. -- A new wildfire was spotted Thursday afternoon near Squaw Creek, east of Sisters and west of Crooked River Ranch, and quickly burned about 200 to 300 acres of brush and scattered trees, officials said.
The fire, named the Alder Springs Fire, was reported by a caller around 1:45 p.m., and within three hours had burned an estimated 200 to 300 acres according to the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center in Prineville. The cause of the fire was under investigation, they said.
An air tanker and helicopter was called in, along with five engines, to tackle the fire, burning mostly in brush with some trees.
Jefferson County sheriff's deputies said deputies were evacuating people from the Alder Springs Trailhead, after the fire jumped Squaw Creek into the Alder Springs area. They said some hot embers were drifting onto areas of the ranch, and residents reported ashfall.
Crooked River Ranch Fire Chief Tim McLaren said the fire was about 1 1/2 miles west of the ranch and burning at first south, then to the northeast as winds shifted.
He said the fire had crossed Squaw Creek and that while CRR was not immediately threatened, some homes could need to be evacuated if it reached and threatened to jump the Deschutes River.
"Right now, there's no reason to be concerned," McLaren said.
Smoke also was rising from a roughly 700-acre planned field fire in the Post area east of Prineville, but no problems were reported on that blaze.
