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The Nugget Newspaper
Sisters, Oregon
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The contents of the on-line edition of The Nugget represent a selection among the stories that appear in the weekly print edition.

Lightning sparks Cache Mountain blaze near Sisters 
By Jim Cornelius

Sunset filtered by smoke from Cache Mountain fire

Lightning strikes late Tuesday afternoon, July 23, touched off a wildfire on Cache Mountain some 18 miles west of Sisters.

The blaze quickly sent a column of smoke into the air that turned purple against the sunset and drifted north and east on light winds.

According to Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch in Prineville, the fire was 10 acres at 8 p.m. Tuesday. However, it was obvious from Tollgate that the fire was moving down the east slope of Cache Mountain.

The naked eye could see flames flare up as the blaze crept eastward.

The Cache Mountain fire is the largest of several lightning fires burning southwest of Suttle Lake. The dispatch center reported that the fire was under "a very aggressive attack" with an air tanker and helicopters making repeated aerial water drops and ground crews heading in to fight the fire.

At 9 p.m., ash was falling in Sisters.

Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch reported more than 900 lightning strikes in the region Tuesday evening. Fires were started in several areas, including a new blaze in the Black Canyon Wilderness, where the so-called 747 fire has already been burning for days.

At 9:30 p.m., the dispatch center said that thunderstorms were expected again on Wednesday, with temperatures to 85 degrees and light winds to 10 miles per hour.

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