The Lebanon Fire District was dispatched to a large natural cover fire on Brewster Road near the Grant Street bridge on Wednesday, Sept. 7, at approximately 3:30 p.m. First responding crews found approximately six acres of mixed grass, brush and tree fire, as well as homeless encampments, along the river. Upon arrival, the incident commander immediately struck a second-alarm request for additional support resources.
Within 10 minutes, the LFD was assisted by the Oregon Department of Forestry, which brought a bulldozer to begin digging containment lines around the fire. Firefighters worked around the perimeter with hose lines and hand tools to suppress the fire.
A Mark-3 Fire Pumper was set up alongside the west of the fire, using the river as a water source for suppression while additional crews used hose lines off brush vehicles from the east.
At approximately 6:30 p.m. the fire was considered contained and operations moved into the mop-up phase. One patient was transported to Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital with minor smoke inhalation injuries, but no injuries were reported amongst firefighters.
The LFD responded with three staff vehicles, one engine with four personnel, one pumper tender with three personnel, one water tender with one personnel, one rehab unit with two personnel, and three volunteers who came in private vehicles. They received additional support from Albany Fire Department with two engines and six personnel, Sweet Home Fire District with one heavy brush rig and three personnel, Scio Fire District with one water tender and one brush rig.
Brownsville Fire District provided mutual aid to the City with one engine, and SHFD provided a medic unit for district coverage. The City of Lebanon Police Department, the Linn County Sheriff’s Office, and the Linn County Roads Department assisted with traffic and area control.
The fire scene does remain active. Crews will remain on scene to complete mop-up operations throughout the rest of today. There is a high likelihood that smoke will remain in the area for a while, but is not an immediate cause for concern. Two brush rigs, one water tender, and one fire engine and hand crew remain on scene.
The official cause of this fire remains under investigation.
The Lebanon Fire District would like to highlight the importance of following Linn County’s complete fire ban this weekend, as conditions are exceptionally dry, and winds are expected to pick up.