Fire Ecology: Two Bulls Fire of Bend, OR

My experience with wildfires is very little. I grew up in Reno, Nevada, surrounded by mountains. I have a small recollection of a large wildfire when I was a child because I remember we weren’t able to go outside for recess due to the air being so thick with smoke and ash. Unfortunately, I was unable to find any information on that fire. However, since living in Bend, I have experienced a huge wildfire, The Two Bulls Wildfire.

In June of 2014, Bend experienced a really large wildfire. It ended up burning over 6,908 acres of land and caused over 250 homes to be evacuated. At the time, I was living on Bend’s west side where some of the evacuations were being ordered. I lived just far enough towards town, however, where I didn’t have to evacuate. I remember at the time worrying about how if the fire reached my house, my fish would die and there was no way to rescue them. Most people find that to be silly, but that fire gave me a lot of anxiety worrying about my pets.

Although the cause of the fire was not determined, investigators suspect it was a human caused wildfire due to the two locations being so close to each other. Whether it was arson or negligence, they are still unsure at this time.