Firefighters invade, protect small Oregon town

Three firefighters work to contain smoke and flames near Monument.

MONUMENT, Oregon (CNN) -- Monument, Oregon, is a town so small that when people call the wrong number, they usually find out what the right number is.

B.J. Ford calls Monument "just a tiny, little speck" -- one that, suddenly, is fighting for its own survival. For proof, Ford need look no further than the public school where he works as business manager, a building that has been transformed into a tent city since a crew of firefighters numbering five times greater than the town's population of 150 invaded the town in the last few days.

The visitors have been trying to contain seven lightning-sparked wildfires that have been dancing across 12,500 acres of sagebrush and forest since Sunday to within three miles of the town in the north-central part of Oregon.

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The North Fork of John Day River has served as a break on the southern edge of the fire. Water from the river is being used for helicopter drops to quench the flames. But so far, only 10 percent of the fires have been contained.

The 731 firefighters have been battling the blazes in 90-degree-plus heat, assisted by a support staff of 80 employees from the Oregon Department of Forestry who handle radio communications, order supplies and cook. Some of the 120 National Guard troops activated by the governor to fight the fires are expected to arrive on Friday.

Monument's businesses -- which include the Columbia Power Co-op, the family-run Boyer's store and the one-room, one-bathroom post office -- have remained open, despite heavy smoke. No evacuations have been ordered yet.

"People are staying put," City Clerk Carmen Woodell told CNN.

But Woodell noted that Lookout Mountain -- just two miles away -- is no longer visible.

No structures have been damaged by the fires, and nobody has been injured.

With school not set to start for another few weeks, firefighters have pitched tents on the grounds of Monument School, the community's hub with 70 students and a dozen teachers from pre-school through 12th grade, as well as two parks.

"Have you ever seen 'Red Dawn'?" joked Ford, one of the few school employees on the job Thursday. "It's like an army base, with tents everywhere, trucks everywhere, people everywhere -- 500 tents, maybe a thousand. The football field is full of tents. So is the city park."

Wildfires, like this one, prompted Oregon's governor to declare a drought emergency on Thursday.

The school's just-renovated classrooms have been transformed into temporary offices, the cafeteria into a mess hall. Even the shower room and gym are being used, and the Department of Forestry has set up its own phone network, said Ford.

The Forestry Department said 33 fire engines, 13 bulldozers and five helicopters are being used in the fight against the flames. Few other resources are available because of the outbreak of fires elsewhere in Oregon, Nevada, Washington, California, Idaho and six other states, said Rosemary Hardin, the agency's fire information officer.

At Monument School, firefighters returning by bus from the front lines can expect to find portable showers and hot dinners. Breakfasts are also served at the camp, but firefighters take their lunches with them.

"They're very calorie-intense, because the firefighters burn up lots of calories," said Hardin.

"Īt's a very, very difficult job," she said. "They're carrying equipment and gear, fire shelters and radios -- and working in 100-degree weather, not to mention the heat from the fires. Depending on what they're carrying, it could be 40 pounds."