The Highland Fire, discovered on July 12, 2025, near Prineville, Ore.
Courtesy of the Crook County Sheriff's Office
A fast-moving wildfire south of Prineville, Oregon, has forced hundreds of residents to evacuate under a Level 3 (Go Now!) order since Saturday evening.
The Highland Fire, first reported in Juniper Canyon sagebrush near Mark Road and Southeast Highland Road, had burned more than 700 acres and was 5% contained as of early Monday morning, according to reports posted to the Watch Duty website and attributed to the the National Interagency Fire Center. The fire was initially estimated at 1,500 acres but was later revised down.
About 1,000 residents in the area were under Level 1 and Level 2 evacuation notices. No homes or structures had been lost to the fire, according to the Crook County Fire and Rescue Sunday afternoon.
In response to the Highland Fire, Gov. Tina Kotek invoked the Emergency Conflagration Act on Saturday night — her fifth time doing so this year — allowing the state fire marshal to deploy extra structural protection resources.
Related: Check out OPB's wildfire and air quality information hub
State Fire Marshal Mariana Ruiz-Temple warned that wildfire risk remains high across Oregon with little relief in sight. “We are asking all Oregonians to be aware of the conditions and do everything they can to prevent sparking a wildfire,” she said in a statement on Sunday.
This fire season began early in the Pacific Northwest. In June, the Rowena Fire near The Dalles destroyed 56 homes in just a few days.
The human-caused Highland Fire is the second major wildfire in Central Oregon this summer, following the lightning-sparked Willow Fire, which has burned over 4,400 acres and was 75% contained as of Sunday morning.
So far this summer, more than 400 wildfires have burned over 2,000 acres of land protected by the Oregon Department of Forestry, but officials report that 98% of fires have been kept under 10 acres.
Evacuees from Juniper Canyon are being directed to a temporary shelter at Eastside Church (3174 NE 3rd St., Prineville). Large animals can be relocated to Brasada Ranch (16976 SW Brasada Ranch Road, Powell Butte).
The Crook County Sheriff’s Office is providing up-to-date evacuation information on its Facebook page.
