By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com
State, federal and local fire crews were able to keep a fire that started in a barn along Tenmile Creek south of Yachats from spreading into heavy timber Thursday night.
The damage was mostly limited to a lean-to shed and pole barn belonging to Sarah Scholfield and equipment and cedar logs belonging to her nephew, Louie Cole of Waldport, a well-known homebuilder in the area.
The fire was first reported by Meria Cole at 4:51 p.m. Thursday. It destroyed the shed and barn, spread to piles of cedar logs and then up a steep hill, jumping Tenmile Creek Road and moving into Siuslaw National Forest property.
Firefighters from Yachats and Florence were the first at the scene Thursday, followed by engines from departments in Waldport, Seal Rock and Newport. By the evening there were 10 more engines from Oregon Department of Forestry offices in Florence and Veneta, one from the U.S. Forest Service, and two, 20-person wildland firefighting crews.
The fire covered six acres before it was contained Thursday night, said ODF incident commander Erik Brekstad.
On Friday, three ODF engines and three wildland crews were mopping up the main fire, putting out spot fires, knocking down problem trees, digging containment lines and setting up hoses on the steep slope above the Schofield property. They will be there for another 2-3 days.
An ODF spokesman in Veneta the big response Thursday was necessary because of extremely dry forests and strong winds that have been raking the coast – and are expected to worsen as temperatures rise this weekend.
“We’re really wanting to keep these fires small,” said Dave Kjosness, spokesman for ODF’s Western Lane office. “Because of how dry things are it was a big concern.”
The state has issued “extreme level” fire alerts for western Oregon, the first time in at least three years it has reached that warning level, which includes restrictions on public and forestry uses.
“It’s a bit of a scary time … and we’ve already had some fires,” Kjosness said.
Deputy State Fire Marshal Shannon Miller and Lane County Sheriff’s Deputy John Putzier said their initial investigation indicated the fire started in the barn and quickly spread.
“There is no indication of foul play or anything like that,” Putzier said.
Cole, owner of Vision Builders, told YachatsNews on Friday that the property had been in his family for decades. His aunt still lives there. The shed and barn were filled with his homebuilding and logging equipment; the loss includes 20 chainsaws, a tractor, a trac-hoe and piles of cedar logs that he turned into siding and beams. Spared was Cole’s portable sawmill.
“The loss is incalculable,” he said.
Cole praised the firefighters’ response, even though the property is located midway between Yachats and Florence, 3.5 miles east of U.S. Highway 101 on a twisting one-lane road.
“They had it dealt with so quick,” he said. “The wind was ripping; that’s why they responded the way they did.”
