Oregon Governor Gets an Airborne View of Destructive Central Oregon Fires

Governor of Oregon Ted Kulongoski says the Black Crater Fire is the worst in Oregon, but it is only one of several burning trees and firefighting resources.

Helicopter gathering water near Black Crater Fire Saturday Photo by Tim King

(SISTERS) - Fires in Central Oregon have agencies scrambling. One blaze called the Black Crater Fire near Sisters, consumed more than 4,700 acres between Friday night and Saturday morning.

Arrangements were made for a National Guard Blackhawk helicopter to fly Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski over the fire near Sisters Saturday, and Salem-News.com was asked to come along to document the event for Oregon television stations.

Before seeing the fire zone, Governor Kulongoski stopped at the air operations facility outside of Sisters to gather the latest information from the agencies involved in fighting the fire.

While they express plenty of concern, they remain confident that things shouldn’t get out of hand, as long as the federal government does its part when the time comes. They haven’t always had the best track record according to Kulongoski.

Oregon Forestry’s rapid approach to even smaller fires is now being adapted by the feds though, and the Governor says it is really helping.

Touring the fire from the Blackhawk, Oregon’s top elected officer saw the devastation from one of the worst fires Oregon has seen in a long time.

The guard troops will see the fire through, along with firefighters from throughout Oregon and beyond. Kulongoski says the relationship between state and federal agencies is continuing to improve, and now they hope that the weather will do the same thing.