The 500-acres Box Springs Fire burning 25 miles northeast of Prineville in the Oregon Department of Forestry’s Central Oregon District was stable Wednesday morning with no growth. The lightning-caused fire is fully lined and 50 percent contained. No smoke is visible in the area today.
The Department still has many firefighters continuing mop-up and asks the public to be cautious driving on forest roads due to firefighting traffic. Traffic is heaviest on Forest Service Road No. 27, with some traffic on McKay Road, also (pronounced ‘muk-eye’). Firefighting vehicles will continue traveling back and forth to the fire for the next 2-3 days.
Lightning storms forecast for Tuesday evening didn’t materialize, enabling firefighters to focus on the existing fire.
Most of the resources fighting the fire are ODF and private contract, along with some local USDA Forest Service resources.