Photo from the scene provided by Banks Fire District 13
MANNING – Fire crews from Banks Fire District 13 were dispatched to reports of a brush fire north of Manning in the area of Cason Road and Levi White Road just before 3 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, according to Banks Fire District public information officer Scott Adams.
Shortly after arriving, crews upgraded the fire to a “full box” fire, a classification that prompts a request for additional fire fighting resources from neighboring fire agencies, including the Oregon Department of Forestry.
Multiple agencies sent apparatus to the scene, including at the least Forest Grove Fire & Rescue and the Oregon Department of Forestry.
Tender 14 heads to the fire north of Manning. Photo: Chas Hundley
A Forest Grove Fire & Rescue vehicle heads to the fire north of Manning. Photo: Chas Hundley
The fire appears to have started in or around logging slash piles in a logged area.
Unrelated to the fire, a car crash occurred 45 minutes after the initial fire dispatch on Highway 26 near Fischer Road, further straining resources from the district.
According to the Oregon Department of Transportation, Highway 26 is closed at Fischer Road; an ODOT traffic camera also showed a Washington County Sheriff’s office vehicle blocking the eastbound lane of Highway 26 at Staley’s Junction.
This photo from an ODOT traffic camera shows eastbound traffic backed up to Staley’s Junction.
Banks Fire District’s volunteer public information officers were not immediately available for information on a cause or size of the fire.
This is a developing story, more information will be added as it becomes available.
Chas Hundley is the editor of the Banks Post and sister news publications the Gales Creek Journal and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.
