Happy to be back at the ranch.

Byline: Jeff Wright The Register-Guard

SISTERS - It was an upbeat if unusual homecoming for Carl Burnham and dozens of other Black Butte Ranch residents allowed to return to their homes Tuesday evening despite a wildfire still burning a quarter-mile away.

Burnham, 68, was second in a caravan of vehicles that rolled into the 1,830-acre resort west of Sisters at 6 p.m., greeted by a large "Welcome Home!" sign and the waves of General Manager Loy Helmly and two other resort managers.

Burnham said he has lived at Black Butte since 2002, which was the last year residents were forced to evacuate their homes because of threatening fire. The occasional need to dodge a wildfire might make a person think twice about living amid the forest trees - right?

"Absolutely not," Burnham said. "They do a tremendous job here. It's just something you have to deal with."

Burnham said he holed up in a Bend motel during the one-night evacuation and the biggest drawback was limiting the scope of activities with his grandchildren, who had come to visit for the Labor Day weekend. "You don't want to venture too far from the house, so we couldn't do things like golf or hike," he said.

While Burnham and other residents seemed to take the evacuation with aplomb, Helmly said he sensed deeper feelings at play.

"It's very emotional for them," he said of the ranch's year-round residents. "These are their homes."

The ranch has about 1,200 homes and 10 commercial properties. The spread resembled an upscale ghost town Tuesday afternoon, with idle playgrounds and empty golf fairways sandwiched among the vacant homes and rental units.

While given the go-ahead to return home, residents knew they were under an advisory that could require another evacuation if the G.W. Fire again threatens the ranch. Firefighters declared Tuesday night that the 7,300-acre blaze was about 40 percent contained.

At a briefing at the Sisters Fire Hall, incident commander Mark Rapp said morning rain and a change in wind behavior persuaded officials that it was safe to let ranch residents return home - at least for the time being.

"We don't like keeping people out of their homes any longer than necessary," he said. "Based on current conditions and fire behavior, we felt we could do this."

Attendees at the briefing included Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who praised fire crews for their quick and dedicated work. "People should look at this as a model for fire suppression," he said.

Kulongoski - wearing a yellow fire shirt and blue jeans with a Rogue Nation baseball cap tucked into the back of his pants - said he sensed things "were turning in our favor" when he noticed during an earlier air tour that area winds had begun blowing to the south.

Kulongoski on Monday invoked the state Emergency Conflagration Act, which allows fire officials to mobilize extra resources from around the state to contain a fire. Officials said Tuesday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency also had been asked to help with funding support.

State Forester Marvin Brown said he and other officials had hoped the fire could be adequately contained over the weekend without asking Kulongoski to invoke the emergency act. But Brown thought twice when winds started pushing the fire in the direction of the ranch and picked up the phone.

"When Marvin calls me at home, it's not a good sign," Kulongoski said.

The fire, caused by a lightning strike on Friday, is in the vicinity of Dry Creek on the lower east slope of Mount Washington.

About 670 people have been fighting the fire, with some support crews from distant counties withdrawn from the fire on Tuesday afternoon and evening.

Along the fire line near Five Mile Butte, day operations supervisor Slater Turner said he was grateful for the morning's rain, but cautious.

"I'm breathing a little easier, but you can't let your guard down: It was raining this morning but it's sunny now, and there's dry dirt beneath us," he said. "We're keeping our guard because we know what this wind has done to us in the last three days."

Among those mopping up on the fire's eastern edge was the father-and-son team of Grant and Kyle Crosswhite of Moxee, Wash.

The elder Crosswhite said he and his son do floor covering and timber felling when not out in the woods during fire season with their 500-gallon water tanker. The family business also includes Grant Crosswhite's wife, Cathy, who rotates stints on the fire line with her husband and son.

Kyle Crosswhite, 18, said he and his dad work on old cars together when they're back home, but they also enjoy jumping from state to state putting out fires during the summer months. "It's all fun," he said.