Crews in Clackamas County continued to put out the 20-acre Forest Park Fire on Friday that sparked near Beavercreek southwest of Estacada on Thursday afternoon.
At 4 p.m. Friday, people near the junction of South Lower Highland Road and South Upper Highland Road were on a Level 2 (Be set) evacuation order.
The Oregon Department of Forestry said the fire is 90% lined. A helicopter has been dropping water on it.
Crews said the warm, dry weather could pose some difficulty, but they said they are optimistic about getting the fire under control.
“Yesterday, about 1 o’clock, just got home, saw my wife, she was pointing down the end of the field,” said Clark Davis, who lives near the fire. “We’re the adjoining property, and she said, ‘What’s all that smoke?’”
Clackamas Fire said it got the call at 3 p.m. Thursday. The good news was the fire didn’t grow overnight.
“We’ve been working with the Oregon Department of Forestry. They’re going to take command this morning,” said Izak Hamilton, spokesperson for Clackamas Fire. “They’re bringing in a bunch of resources. We have helicopters ready to dump and hand crews coming in.”
Hamilton said one of the biggest challenges is the landscape.
Davis lives next to Clackamas Fire Station 20. He said Clackamas residents are all too familiar with wildfires. And, he said, it’s a reminder to be prepared for peak wildfire season later in the summer.
“My motivation to finish mowing the adjoining field is because of the fire,” he said. “Grass gets dry, it’s susceptible to that, so I’m going to finish mowing a few acres.”
Davis said he’s even learned a very important lesson from the whole experience.
“I kinda blew it off -- someone’s just burning, no big deal. It’ll teach me to not disregard what my wife says, because it might be a forest fire,” he said.
No structures have been lost or threatened.