FRENCHGLEN – John Ross stood watching a wildfire Friday morning on Jack Mountain Escarpment, a high-desert bluff that sits above the threatened hamlet of
, when an aircraft blasted through the smoke.
Dumping a massive load of pink retardant on the flames, the multi-engine aircraft brought a long-awaited reprieve to the town facing the approach of the 159,000-acre
.
"Wow, I didn't even see him," said Ross, who'd feared all week that he might have to abandon the 89-year-old
that he's managed for 22 years.
Almost an hour later, Ross learned from a U.S Forest Service worker that the retardant broke the wildfire's back, at least the part immediately threatening Frenchglen.
Frenchglen, 59 miles south of Burns, has a population of only 11 or so – depending on whom you ask – but the Frenchglen Hotel sees 6,000 visitors a year.
Situated at the base of the 9,773-foot fault-block of Steens Mountain, Frenchglen consists of a scattering of rustic homes, a picturesque general store that began life on frontier cattle baron Pete French's nearby "P" Ranch, and the K-8 Frenchglen Elementery School, which served 9 students last year.
The community has been a tense place because of the fire.
The multi-agency team battling the wildfire imposed a Level Two evacuation order at 10 p.m. Thursday. Such an order does not have the force of law to compel anybody to leave and was "basically a get ready, be prepared" warning, said Mike Stearly, a U.S. Forest Service spokesman for the incident management team.
The people of Frenchglen stayed, enduring triple-digit heat, smoke and a gnawing sense of menace rolling off the fire. So did most of the roughly 50 ranchers, buckaroos and their families living within 30 miles of the tiny, unincorporated Harney County community along Oregon 205.
This week, the town also is occupied by hundreds of firefighters living in a nearby tent community.
"Yesterday, it was pretty scary here," said Ross.
The fear factor increased after dark when he stepped out under the Carolina poplars to watch the fire snake toward town. The wind was blowing briskly, the temperature was over 100, and the gnarled old junipers in the fire's path didn't merely burn, they exploded.
"I wasn't scared until it started getting behind the hotel," said Twyla Hoffman,, an employee of the hotel, which operates from March 15 to Nov. 1.
Pushed by 23 mph gusts, the flames took out power lines, leaving the hotel and her home temporarily without electricity, she said.
Stearly, the forest service spokesman, said the huge fire may be reeling from Friday's tanker drop, but it isn't finished. "It's still active and conditions are prime for ignition," said Stearly.
More than 400 firefighters were assigned to the blaze, with more on the way.