Cool weather slows growth of wildfire.

Byline: Susan Palmer The Register-Guard

BLACK CRATER FIRE

SISTERS - Cooler weather and less wind helped slow the progress of the Black Crater Fire threatening Sisters on the east side of the Cascades.

While the fire grew from 5,700 to 9,000 acres on Sunday, some of that increase was attributed to deliberate burns along the north and eastern edges of the fire that widened the natural breaks along Forest Service roads.

Hundreds of firefighters worked cutting brush and burning the ground-level fuels on Sunday as C-130 air tankers dropped retardant along the containment lines to douse any embers.

The fire has moved to within half a mile of one evacuated neighborhood and within three miles of Sisters. The wind threw embers that ignited spot fires within two-tenths of a mile of some homes, but firefighters worked aggressively to suppress them.

"The wind is erratic," said Bill Schoneberger, an engine boss from Jacksonville working on a backburn along Forest Service Road 1510 on Sunday morning. "Last night the fire had a pretty good run, there was a jackpot of fuel in there, but it looks like we're starting to get a handle on it."

The fire, caused by lightning, is 20 percent contained and small compared with wildland blazes burning in other parts of the country. But it is considered a top firefighting priority because of its proximity to homes.

"It's the No. 1 public safety concern in the nation," said Kevin Foss, lead field ranger with the Deschutes National Forest.

The fire is burning in the Three Sisters Wilderness, the Deschutes National Forest and private timberland. Officials have closed Highway 242 from the Dee Wright Observatory east to Sisters. While Highway 20 remains open, the national forest is closed to visitors.

Firefighting officials say the potential for the fire to continue growing is high because of the difficulty of the terrain, the fuel and the weather, but several miles of containment line along the nonwilderness section have them optimistic at controlling its eastward spread. They expect it to continue growing in the more challenging wilderness terrain.

Forecasts of milder weather today and Tuesday also contributed to optimism in the fire camp set up at the Sisters Middle School, but officials say their fire lines won't really be tested until they survive the gusting winds and heat common here this time of year.

"We've had pretty good success with the fire to date, but this thing hasn't been tested," said fire incident commander Carl West.

Until the fire lines prove they can hold up, evacuated residents won't be allowed to return home, said Sisters and Camp Sherman Fire District Chief Taylor Robertson.

"We need two solid burn periods where we feel good about the buffer between the fire and your homes," Robertson said. He predicted Tollgate residents would be the first to return, followed by Crossroads and then Edgington, the neighborhood closest to the fire.

Because of the fire's potential to move from forest to town, a top management team from the southeastern United States has been brought in to manage the fire, Foss said. The Type I team is afforded faster access to firefighting resources.

About 1,000 firefighters are working to contain the wildland fire, with five helicopters and four airplanes dropping water and retardant on hot spots and the perimeter throughout Sunday.

At a safety meeting, crews were warned to avoid the drop zone of aircraft carrying 1,000 to 2,000 gallons of water.

Air operations supervisor Terry Beahan illustrated the point by taking a small package of cookies and putting them on the floor, then standing over them with a full case of 16-ounce water bottles.

"This is you," he said as he put the cookies on the floor. "This is the water drop," he said as he dropped the case of water on the cookies.

In the evacuated neighborhoods, urban firefighters from around the state stood ready to protect homes with 41 fire engines, 15 water tankers and 209 firefighters from Lane, Linn, Clackamas, Benton, Marion and Deschutes counties.

In the Crossroads neighborhood, Springfield Fire Department Battalion Chief Dana Burwell called in a wildland fire crew to improve the fire break on the western edge of the neighborhood.

Other Lane County firefighters are standing guard over homes at night, said Colleen Olson, spokeswoman for the state fire marshal's team.

Most area residents had nothing but praise for the efforts of firefighters.

"The personnel on the ground are doing an absolutely fantastic job," said Bob Walker, a construction worker who had to evacuate from the Crossroads neighborhood on Thursday. His daughter, Rebecca Walker, a Sisters School District employee and Tollgate resident, loaded up her possessions in a U-Haul and was ready when the call came to evacuate on Saturday.

"I watched this fire take off from a little whiff of smoke to a big column," Rebecca Walker said.

Bob Walker said he doesn't understand why more resources weren't called up when the fire was still burning in a remote area far from town.

"The system is broken. It's super slow," he said. "If politicians want to get re-elected, they need to streamline it."

The American Red Cross has set up shelters at schools in Sisters and Bend, but only a handful of people have bedded down there. That doesn't surprise Rebecca Walker, who is staying with friends near Bend. When she brought a truck to load up her possessions, people were waiting to help load.

"That's just how people are here. Everybody helps everybody," she said.

INSIDE Nevada: High winds cause a remote range fire to explode in size / A4 Oregon: Firefighters are busy battling several stubborn blazes / C4