UPDATE: According to Larisa Bogardus, public relations manager with the Vale District Bureau of Land Management, the wildfire is now estimated to be burning on 10,000 acres.
UPDATE: Malheur County Sheriff Travis Johnson said the fire is burning on the west side of the Owyhee River, and the upper end is burning west. Meanwhile, Johnson noted that Owyhee Lake Road is closed and that people need to steer clear of the area. However, he said an evacuation has still been lifted. The fire, he said, is “a long ways from needing to evacuate anyone near a town.”
The only people potentially threatened by the blaze were those working below the Owyhee Dam, which included a few fishermen and people at Camp Hycliff. He said they were warned about the fire but not forced to leave the area.
A fire erupted Wednesday afternoon northwest of the Owyhee Dam, quickly growing to 2,500 acres and prompting efforts to rescue campers.
According to Larisa Bogardus, public relations manager with the Vale District Bureau of Land Management, the blaze started near Camp Hycliff, operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, about three miles southwest of Lake Owyhee Road Tunnel. She said the fire is moving south along the Owyhee River, away from the camp.
The Malheur County Sheriff’s Office initially responded to evacuate campers in the area but canceled that effort after the fire direction changed.
Bogardus said five engines and an investigator were on the fire.
This is a developing story.
