Terry Perrine, from left, explains their fire evacuation rush, as his wife Pam, and son Robert listen in and sit with their dogs in front of the La Pine High School Wednesday morning.  

LA PINE — Craig Riesner was working construction on a house in Aubrey Butte on Tuesday, June 25, when he got a call from his wife, Tina. A fire had broken out on the southeastern edge of La Pine. He needed to get home, and fast.

He wasn’t alone as the Darlene 3 Fire raced into existence Tuesday afternoon, prompting several Level 3 and Level 2 evacuation notices and the activation of an emergency Red Cross Shelter at La Pine High School.

“I was on my way, and I couldn’t believe how fast people were driving,” Riesner told The Bulletin on Wednesday. “There were people passing me probably going 100 mph.” 

The Darlene 3 Fire grew quickly, from 250 acres to 2,415 acres in less than 24 hours. Nearly 500 homes were under “go now” evacuation orders, with 631 more homes under “be set” notice. Wednesday morning, it was only 30% contained, wildfire officials said. 

State firefighting teams were activated Tuesday to assist local firefighting efforts. Reinforcements, including the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Red Incident Management Team, were mobilized soon after the fire began to grow and Gov. Tina Kotek invoked the Emergency Conflagration Act on Tuesday afternoon.

Both structure and wildland firefighters resources have been deployed to the Darlene 3 Fire. There are currently six task forces of structural firefighters working to protect homes and other buildings.

Dozers, hand crews, engines and air resources also continue to fight the fire. Water tankers fill up in Redmond, so planes will be seen flying over Bend throughout the day.

Evacuation orders

When Riesner left Bend around 2 p.m., his home in Newberry Estates was only at a Level 1 evacuation order. The fire was only about 250 acres, and hadn’t yet gotten a name. By the time he got home, his area had risen to a Level 2 evacuation order. Half an hour later, it was a Level 3.

“It happened really fast,” Reisner said Wednesday morning outside of his trailer, which was parked at the Red Cross Emergency shelter at La Pine High School. “We had maybe an hour and a half to get out of there,” Reisner said.

Power lines and water supply infrastructure were threatened by the fire and crews are working with utilities to keep both power and water operational, said Stefan Myers, a spokesperson with the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Office.

“There are transmission lines that are right in the middle of the fire,” Myers said on Wednesday. “Today and last night they were working to get in there to help utility companies manage hazards that were going to impact transmission lines.” 

Power was temporarily cut Tuesday and residents in the area had intermittent access to water, Myers said.  

The winds Wednesday morning drove the flames away from homes and businesses, but afternoon forecasts still make the fire a formidable threat.

“We’ve been living here for 10 years, and we heard about the fires down in California. When they say go now, it means go now,” said Terry Perrine. “This afternoon the wind will change — it always does — and I don’t want to be there.”

It’s not just the Paradise Fire in California that had Terry and his wife Pam eager to evacuate. When the Darlene Fire came through La Pine in 2020, their son’s mother- and father-in law lost their home. Pam said the family only had enough time to grab the dog. Otherwise, they lost everything.

“When you know someone personally that’s been through that kind of thing, it makes you more cautious as well,” Pam Perrine said.

And the couple was fully prepared to evacuate, along with their eight dogs, except the motorhome they had purchased specifically for this purpose was being repaired in Bend. They had no choice but to grab a change of clothes, their dogs, and leave. They left so fast, they forgot dog food. Thankfully, they said, the Red Cross has them covered.

“The Red Cross has been terrific,” Terry Perrine said. “They got us a couple kennels, and then a lady — she saw the dogs … so she gave us a kennel (from the back of her truck) — and she was just driving through seeing who needed help. Everybody is very helpful and very friendly, but that’s La Pine.”

Red Cross opens shelter

When the knock on the door occurred at 4 p.m. Tuesday, it was no surprise for La Pine residents Jerry and Kirstin Owens that they’d been ordered to evacuate.

They packed up clothes, their computers and important papers. They grabbed their three children, ages, 5, 4 and 2 and loaded up the car. They left their three bedroom manufactured home on Ammon and Rosland roads in their rearview mirror.

“We’d been watching the smoke, listening to the news,” Jerry Owens said. “We don’t know if our home is safe. The fire was tracking north east and it was headed in our direction.”

The Owens family were among those who were ordered to evacuate on Tuesday. The Red Cross Cascades kept 25 people safe at the La Pine High School overnight, said Rebecca Marshall, Red Cross Cascades regional communications director.

“We’ll be here for the long haul while there’s an evacuation order in place,” Marshall said. “As long as our partners need us, we’ll be there.”

When the fire first flared up businesses opened their doors to evacuees. Adrianne Bauman, co-owner of Legend Cider, said she opened her doors to anyone who needed respite and air conditioning. On Wednesday, she offered free non-alcoholic beverages to anyone who needed a place to hangout, she said.

“It was something when the first was headed northeast of town,” Bauman said. “It was so close to town, that’s what was so scary.”

Air quality bad for Bend 

Residents in Bend woke up to poor air quality on Wednesday as smoke from the Darlene 3 Fire drifted north and settled overnight.

The air quality index reached 196 (unhealthy) at the Bend Pump Station near downtown Bend at 6 a.m., according to data compiled by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. 

Smoke conditions eased somewhat as the morning wore on. By 9 a.m., air monitoring stations in Bend registered only “moderate” levels of smoke. The highest level at 9 a.m. was 97 at the pump station in downtown Bend.

Julie Brown, a spokesperson for Bend Park & Recreation District, said the smoke did not impact any programs or activities run by the district.