700-acre fire burns near Klamath Falls

Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)

2002-02-28

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700-acre fire burns near Klamath Falls KLAMATH FALLS - The Indian Springs Fire 40 miles east of here was 60 percent contained at about 700 acres Saturday, fire officials. About 350 firefighters were assigned to the blaze, which began Friday afternoon in pine and juniper and quickly grew to about 700 acres by nightfall. There was no estimate for control. There have been no evacuations and no structures have been reported lost. The fire is in steep terrain and is threatening a plantation of 15-year-old trees planted after an earlier forest fire, said David Wells, a State Forestry Department spokesman. The burned acreage is a mix of state, BLM and private land. Firefighters were working under high-tension electrical transmission lines and reported that the thick smoke was acting as a conductor to bring arcs of electricity to the ground, Wells said. No injuries were reported, but crews were forced to stay at least 500 feet from the electric lines, he said. The fire is about 24 miles north of the California border. The cause is under investigation. Wells said firefighters were worried that larger pieces of wood would smolder after they were put out, possibly restarting the fire even in cool, moist conditions.   Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.