"The fire has had its way over the last week," said one fire official. "Now we're on even terms."

For a couple of days, it looked like the merging Booth and Bear Butte Fires might jump the Metolius River and rage up Green Ridge, putting Camp Sherman and the whole area north of Sisters in harm's way.

After holding the fire Friday, firefighters braced for gusty winds on Saturday, as a cold front moved into the region.

However, the winds died relatively quickly and did not fan the blaze as fiercely as was feared.

Thus, firefighters held the blaze at the west bank of the Metolius. One spot fire broke out near Lower Bridge Campground on the east side of the Metolius on Saturday. It was quickly contained at three acres.

After witnessing the events of Thursday, September 4, all of Sisters breathed a sigh of relief.

A combination of winds out of the southwest and heavy fuels in the Brush Creek drainage set off what a fire behavior analyst called a "nuclear detonation" that Thursday.

The fire blew up in the gap between the north edge of the Booth Fire and the south edge of the Bear Butte Fire, throwing up a 40,000-foot plume of smoke and forcing the evacuation of Camp Sherman for the second time.

The massive blow-up actually started building up the day before, fire Incident Commander Bob Anderson reported.

A 35,000-foot plume rose on the west perimeter of the fire on Wednesday, September 3. When that plume collapsed, it created 50-mile-per-hour winds that drove the fire eastward through dense fuels in the Brush Creek drainage.

With wind and fuel conditions so extreme, contingency fire lines could not stop the fire from marching eastward.

As the next day, Thursday, warmed up and dried out, the fire in that area blew up in an even more massive plume, with associated winds of 60 miles-per-hour that literally ripped limbs off trees, according to Anderson.

Burning limbs and embers were tossed out from the fire at distances up to one mile.

Under those conditions, firefighters had to pull away from the fire for their own safety.

"I will tell you we did lose some equipment in the last few days due to extreme fire behavior," Anderson said on Friday.

As the plume rocketed skyward, awing the community of Sisters below, evacuees streamed out of Camp Sherman.

Automobiles filled with cherished family belongings -- especially pets -- pulled into the parking lot at Sisters Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration.

The church was established as a Red Cross Emergency Shelter for what had become a single blaze -- the B&B Fire.

Kandia Cross, Camp Sherman resident, stepped right up to the plate as a volunteer to help sign in residents at the shelter.

"This is our second time around at this, we're old hats," said Cross. "I just had a weird feeling this morning (Thursday). After the (morning residents' briefing) meeting, I came home and packed everything up -- and here we are."

Nancy Nickel, Red Cross volunteer, was not surprised either to see the familiar faces of Camp Sherman residents.

"I didn't know what to expect from this fire, but I know that fires are unpredictable so we try to stay prepared all the time," she said.

Cradling her two-month-old son, Jack, Kami Grubb looked dumbfounded.

"We waited to arrive here to visit my parents until the first evacuation had ended," said Grubb. "We weren't expecting to evacuate again."

Kami's mother, Priscilla Walt, was shaken up by the second evacuation.

"This time it is scarier because of that big plume of smoke behind us and we can't find one of our cats," said Walt.

The second Camp Sherman evacuation lasted until Monday. Jefferson County Sheriff Jack Jones lifted the evacuation as of noon Monday.

However, he warned residents that the fire is a long way from being over and that they would need to remain alert.

He also cautioned them against trying to evade roadblocks to get a look at the fire area. The woods are full of snags and stump holes and the fire area will remain dangerous for a while.

The B&B Fire started as two fires seperated by some 15 miles.

The blazes started on Tuesday afternoon, August 19, as Forest Service officials were preparing for a visit to Camp Sherman by President Geoarge W. Bush.

By Thursday, the Booth Fire was so severe it had forced evacuation of Camp Sherman and cancelation of the presidential visit.

The fires officially merged on Thursday, September 4.