At the end of June the first big fire of the season hit close to home for the Land Trust. The Darlene 3 Fire started on June 25th southeast of La Pine and was very near the Land Trust's Paulina Creek Preserve. In the first few days, the fire quickly grew to several thousand acres. Evacuations and public land closures were in effect for neighborhoods and lands surrounding Paulina Creek Preserve.

Throughout the fire, the Land Trust was in close coordination with our partners who were leading firefighting efforts. We attended daily briefings and worked with the incident management team to find ways we could support firefighting efforts, including offering Paulina Creek Preserve as a temporary firefighting base camp. As the fire progressed, Paulina Creek Preserve was used as a a temporary helicopter landing pad for reconnaissance flights.

Thankfully, the fire ended up growing primarily to the east, keeping our neighbors and Paulina Creek Preserve out of its path. By June 30th, the fire was mostly contained and evacuations were lifted. The Land Trust is hugely grateful to the firefighters and other team members who managed the incident so expertly! And, we are so thankful that all of our neighbors remain safe and their homes were not impacted by the fire.

With lots of warm weather still to come, please be sure to stay safe out there and help take care of our backyard by learning how you can help prevent wildfires during fire season! We will be taking care of our backyard by thinning some of the forest at Paulina Creek Preserve this fall. Stay tuned for more details!

Learn more:

• How You Can Help Prevent Wildfires
• Fire in Central Oregon
• Common Questions About Wildfires in Central Oregon