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FALLS & TELEPHONE FIRE, HARNEY COUNTY, Ore. -- Authorities say a firefighting tanker plane pilot is dead today after a crash in eastern Oregon. They say the plane disappeared last night, and a search today found the single-pilot plane and the pilot who were fighting the Falls and Telephone Fires northeast of Lake County in northern Harney County.

ONTARIO — A single-engine air tanker went missing the evening of July 25 while fighting on a lightning start in the vicinity of the Falls Fire, which is in neighboring Harney and Grant counties. The Falls Fire has burned 140,422 acres, according to Inciweb.

BAKER CITY – (Release from OTEC) Currently, wildfires are burning in many areas which impact people in and around OTEC service territory (Baker, Grant, Union and Harney counties). The OTEC team is actively engaged and monitoring these fires. We are aware that many power companies around us have initiated...

HARNEY COUNTY-𝐄𝐕𝐀𝐂𝐔𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄:. The Harney County Sheriff’s Office and Grant County Sheriff’s Office in collaboration with Falls Fire Incident Command, fire personnel, and Emergency Management, are issuing expanded evacuation levels: https://bit.ly/FallsFireEvac.

HARNEY COUNTY-RITTER FIRE, Located in the Stinkingwater Mountains, approximately 14 miles due west of Warm Springs Dam, north of the Warm Springs Access Road and east of the Stinkingwater Access Road. Firefighters were on the incident overnight and already back at it this morning with more resources on order. Last...

An air quality alert was issued on Wednesday at 10:55 a.m. for Harney and Malheur counties. "High concentration of smoke particulates from wildfire smoke," can be anticipated according to the weather service. "Smoke levels can change rapidly depending on weather. Check current conditions on the Oregon Smoke Information Blog, DEQ's Air Quality Index, or by downloading the free OregonAIR app on your smartphone."

The advisory was for Harney and Baker counties. "Temperatures Thursday will lower about ten degrees following tonight's cold front. Friday is expected to be another several degrees cooler," states the National Weather Service. Beating the heat: Weather service Heat safety guidelines. Stay hydrated: Keep yourself well-hydrated by drinking plenty of...

HARNEY COUNTY-RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT: Wednesday, July 24, 11 a.m. to midnight, for THUNDERSTORMS & STRONG OUTFLOW WINDS in fire weather zone 636 – southern Harney County. A cold front, along with plenty of moisture and upper level energy, will help initiate scattered to numerous thunderstorms across the...

HARNEY COUNTY-𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞: UPDATED AT 1:04PM – BONNEVILLE WILL BE SHUTTING THE POWER OFF AT 2 PM. At today’s Falls Fire and Telephone Fire Cooperator’s Meeting, we received information that Bonneville Power is considering a power shut off for public safety due to expected high winds and gusts of 50 mph. 𝐈𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐑𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐲, 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝟑𝟗𝟓 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐖𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐥𝐤𝐚𝐥𝐢 𝐋𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫.

BURNS — Two wildfires raging in northern Harney and southern Grant counties showed different patters of activity, with one growing rapidly and the other holding steady. The Telephone Fire doubled in size overnight, growing to an estimated 9,000 acres from 4,500 the day before with zero containment, fire managers reported on Wednesday, July 24.

The National Weather Service issued an updated flash flood watch at 1:27 a.m. on Wednesday valid for Wednesday between 1 p.m. and 9 p.m. for Oregon Lower Treasure Valley as well as Harney, Baker and Malheur counties. The weather service describes, "Flash flooding and debris flows caused by excessive rainfall...

HARNEY COUNTY-With the increasing containment of the Falls Fire 2024, we hoped to lower evacuation levels in some areas. Instead, the Harney County Sheriff’s Office with collaboration from Incident Command, Emergency Management and fire personnel, are extending evacuation levels due to the new, Telephone Fire in the King Mountain area. This fire has grown rapidly, fanned by erratic winds.

HARNEY COUNTY-Morning update July 23, 2024, for the Telephone Fire. •Northwest Incident Management Team 8 took command of the fire last night. •Estimated at 5000 acres. •Winds pushed the fire south which prompted Harney County authorities to elevate evacuation levels. •Fire is about 6.7 miles from HWY 395, 13.5 miles...

20 teams competed for cash and prizes at the 21st annual Harney County Ranch Rodeo, held on Saturday, July 13, at the Harney County Fairgrounds. Teams competed in seven different events for the top spot with Easterday Ranches coming out on top. The team, consisting of Dusty Easterday, Shaun Lequerica, Brian Grenke, Zalin Arritola, and Bailey Berrett, each received a payout of $1,000 per person, along with their choice of prizes.

HARNEY COUNTY-A Fire Weather Waring has been issued for Northern Boise BLM, Western Payette National Forest, Eastern Payette Nation Forest, Northern Boise National Forest, Treasure Valley BLM, Southern Boise National Forest, Western Sawtooth National Forest, Owyhee Mountains, Western Twin Falls BLM, Southern Highlands, Burns BLM, Vale BLM and Baker Valley beginning July 23, 2024, at 11:00 am and ending Thursday July 24, 2024 at midnight.

SENECA — When the Falls Fire was initially reported, Grant County Sheriff Todd McKinley wasn't too worried about it. "We didn't really get too involved initially because it was all down in Harney County," he said.