Redmond firefighters stop one-acre brush fire in Terrebonne; resident who set fire to downy brome cited for reckless burning

(Update: Added third fire, photo of backyard barbecue fire)

Minutes later, a barbecue fire broke out in the backyard of the SW Redmond duplex; a pan was missing to catch the hot ashes

TERREBONNE, Ore. (KTVZ) — Redmond firefighters stopped a brush fire in Terrebonne Thursday afternoon that sent out a large plume of black smoke and earned a reckless burning citation for a resident who was burning downy brome more than a month after the outdoor burning season ended.

Minutes later, they were called to a backyard fire at a southwest Redmond duplex that police put out with garden hoses and traced to a barbecue without an ash pan. And another brush fire was reported early Thursday night in southwest Redmond.

The first fire was reported as a possible structure fire shortly after 2 p.m. in the 5000 block of Northwest 10^th A flame ignited on a street in Terrebonne, likely caused by a large ponderosa pine that was on fire, Fire Chief Tom Mooney said.

But crews arrived on scene to find a brush and grass fire that burned the corner of a home’s deck but didn’t cause further damage or reach two propane tanks. However, the one-acre fire spread to a neighboring property and burned a trailer, Mooney said.

The fire was started by a person burning roofing bromine and was cited for reckless burning, a Class A misdemeanor that will require a court appearance, the fire chief said.

That fire was declared under control shortly after 3 p.m. Another fire was reported 20 minutes later in the backyard of a Redmond duplex near the intersection of Southwest Umatilla Avenue and 25^th Street. The police quickly intervened and used water hoses to destroy it.

In this case, the cause was traced to a charcoal grill in the backyard that did not have an ash pan in place to catch the ashes, which fell onto dead grass and caught fire, the fire official said.

Mooney said open-air burns were closed June 1.^st.

“It’s extremely hot and dry,” he said. “We’re not kidding: it’s hot, it’s dry and if you intentionally light a fire, you’re likely to get ticketed.”

“The downy brome is knee-high and dry, ready to grow,” Mooney said. “It just needs a little spark to get going.”

That point was underscored shortly after 5 p.m. Thursday, when another brush fire was reported slowly moving through the rooftops near Southwest 39th Street and Obsidian Place.