Crews stop fire sparked by hay equipment at 4 acres near Mt. Vernon
By Logan Bagett on Tuesday, July 14th, 2026 in Eastern/Southeast Oregon News Eastern/Southeast Oregon Top Stories
MT. VERNON – Crews with the Mt. Vernon Rural and Oregon Department of Forestry firefighting resources responded to a wildfire near Riley Creek, southwest of Mt. Vernon on Monday afternoon.
Grant County Sheriff Todd McKinley was in KJDY Studios Tuesday morning and explained the situation:
“There was an operator cutting hay—I would just say it was a drier field—and yesterday was pretty hot. It was a rotary head mower and got the fire started. Fortunately, [the operator] made the call quickly while the fire was small, but it was rapidly progressing.”
The fire grew to approximately 4 acres before crews had it under control. The Sheriff said the blaze torched a few cottonwoods along Riley Creek:
“It was a messy fire in there in places. Got it caught and no machinery was lost. The swather didn’t burn up or anything like that. They were able to get equipment in, I believe a dozer even went in and put some line on it.”
Listen to that full podcast with the Sheriff below:
