August 7, 2007

Crews are patrolling the 37-acre fire zone west of Hood River Monday, dousing hot spots and assessing damage following the Aug. 4 fire that led to the evacuation of close to 1,000 residents.

The cause of the fire is under investigation but apparently was caused by malfunction of grass-cutting machinery being operated by a 15-year-old boy, according to Devon Wells, Hood River assistant fire chief.

Dozens of firefighters from every agency in Hood River County responded, along with Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Department of Forestry, National Scenic Area, and Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington state.

The fire burned in an oblong-area of grass and trees ranging west to east from near Frankton Road to 30^th Street. South to north the fire stretched from near May Avenue to a line about 300 yards north of West Cascade

Hood River Police and the Hood River County Sheriff's Department assisted in evacuating a six-block area around Hazel and 30th streets, the western-most developed are a facing the fire.

A wedding was interrupted at Stonehedge Inn, along the north side of the fire, and had to be evacuated to Columbia Gorge Hotel. Also evacuated was Red Carpet Inn on West Cascade, and that thoroughfare was closed from Rand Road to the intersection of Interstate 84/Country Club Road. May Avenue and Frankton Road were also closed for about three hours Saturday evening.

Flames got to within about 50 feet of several homes near Hazel and 30th. Stiff winds from the west blew flames and smoke virtually parallel to the ground, engulfing a large area of west Hood River in thick brown smoke.

Residents used hoses and sprinklers to protect houses, and neighbors assisted neighbors in carrying furniture and other goods out of some houses. Firefighting crews staged at the west end of Hazel and along 30th with tankers and hoses, dousing the soil and brush.

Much of the area just west of 30th had recently been graded for new development, which meant there was less fuel for the fire than had been there two weeks ago.

One firefighter suffered smoke inhalation and was taken to the emergency room at Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital, but was released that day and is in good health, Wells said.

Damaged structures were limited to one vacant mobile home at 1235 Country Club Road, near the north edge of the fire, and a nearby storage shed, along with a few small shed at other places in the fire area, Wells said.