The combustible combination of lightning, a record-setting heat wave, a weeks-long dry spell and gale-force winds on Sunday afternoon, July 31, contributed to Baker County’s biggest wildfire so far this
BAKER CITY â A fire sparked by farm equipment on the hottest June day on record in Baker County raced through dry grass and sagebrush in Keating Valley, threatening several homes before crews from multiple agencies, with help from a pair of air tankers, stopped the blaze Tuesday, June 29.
âIt really took off in 110-degree heat with 20-mile-an-hour winds behind it,â said Buzz Harper, chief of the Keating Rural Fire Protection District. âIn that heat and wind it could have been real bad.â
The fire burned about 100 acres, Harper said. No homes were damaged.
Baker County Sheriff Travis Ash said the sheriffâs office gave evacuation notices to about 10 residents as a precaution.
No structures damaged in blaze about 18 miles northeast of Baker City lagrandeobserver.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from lagrandeobserver.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.