A large vegetation fire burned roughly 25 acres in Holley late Monday afternoon, but firefighters were able to get it under control before it could damage nearby residences and other structures.
Firefighters responded from Sweet Home and Oregon Department of Forestry at 4:12 p.m. to the 25600 block of Rice Road, off Upper Calapooia Drive, to find a thick column of smoke rising from the area behind Holley Store.
The three-alarm fire was located in an area between Rice Road and Highway 228 and Crescent Hill Road.
“No primary structures were lost,” said Craig Pettinger, ODF unit forester in Sweet Home, who was at the scene. He said the only loss he was aware of was an RV that burned.
“It was an amazing response,” said Sweet Home Fire Chief Nick Tyler. “ODF came with its full force immediately. Sweet Home Fire had staff and multiple units on the scene immediately.
“It really was the best-case scenario. Everything worked. To have a 25-acre fire in that area and not lose any structures is really a testament to the crew.”
He said early-arriving firefighters immediately concentrated on structure protection and then were able to move crews into the western portion of the burn to stop it from getting too far into the Crescent Hill area.
SHFAD reported Monday evening that the fire’s forward motion was stopped at 5:24 p.m., but crews remained on the scene, mopping up through the night.
Tyler, who spent most of Monday night at the fire, said that investigators were able to determine that it was started by a pickup in a grass field.
“The grass fire spread to the trees,” he said.
A Level 1 evacuation was posted for the area by the Linn County Sheriff’s Office, primarily to alert residents of the potential danger of the situation, Pettinger and Tyler said.
Tyler said a Level 3 evacuation order was posted for the Crescent Hill area “because the fire was heading that way.” He said he was unsure how long that order stayed in effect.
The entire area was still under a Level 1 caution Tuesday morning as firefighters planned to spend the day mopping up and making sure it stayed contained.
Rice Road was closed shortly after firefighters arrived to cut down on congestion, Pettinger said, as there was a high volume of emergency traffic in the area, particularly around Holley Store.
Pettinger said Tuesday he did not know how many firefighters were involved, but responders included personnel from ODF, Sweet Home, Brownsville, Lebanon, Halsey, the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Office, Linn County Sheriff’s Office and Sweet Home Police.
Tyler said he appreciated Matt Jordan of No Drought in Holley trucking water to firefighters and local loggers “who showed up with their fire rigs.”
“Sweet Home Fire thanks everybody for reaching out,” he said. “The community support was really outstanding, amazing.”