Harold “Mike” Webb was ready to fight the Griffin Gulch fire Wednesday evening but the flames stayed far enough from his home that he didn’t need to.

“I wasn’t too concerned,” Webb said this morning in a telephone interview from his house, which is about seven-tenths of a mile up Griffin Gulch Lane from Highway 7. “There’s no flame visible, and very little smoke. I think everything’s going to be fine.”

Webb and his wife, Cheryl, were returning from a jet boat trip in Hells Canyon when they received a phone call from a relative alerting them to the fire in the gulch, about three miles southwest of Baker City.

They got the call at 5:17 p.m. — “I always check my wristwatch,” Webb said — about one hour after the fire was reported.

Investigators are still trying to figure out what sparked the fire, which has burned about 27 acres of private land.

Webb said he was worried after the phone call, but only briefly.

His home is made from pumice blocks and it has a metal roof. He also maintains an expanse of green lawn around the building.

When he and his wife arrived home a little after 6:30 p.m., there were fire crews in the area, but the blaze was at least a mile west of the Webbs’ property.

He hitched a harrow and filled a water sprayer just in case, but mainly he spent the evening watching helicopters and air tankers work to control the fire.

“It was a great air show,” Webb said. “They attacked it very effectively from the air.”

Jamie Knight, a spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Forestry, which is overseeing the firefighting effort along with the Greater Bowen Valley Fire Protection District, said the blaze was 15 percent contained this morning. She said fire crews’ biggest concern today is the potential for strong winds this afternoon and evening when a cold front passes through.

Knight said the fire has burned mainly in sagebrush and grass, with isolated juniper trees and some pine and fir along the gulch itself.

One crew working on the Rail fire southwest of Unity was sent to help with the Griffin Gulch fire, Knight said.

Evacuation levels for Griffin Gulch and the area surrounding Griffin Gulch remain at a Level 2 (SET). Level 2 evacuation means to “BE SET” to evacuate. Residents should be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice if conditions worsen. A Level 1 (READY) evacuation notice is still in place for residences in Elk Creek, Washington Gulch, Old Auburn and the foothills south of Baker City. A Level 1 evacuation means to “BE READY” for a potential evacuation.

Webb noted that the fire started quite near a site with great historical value, although one that is not marked with a monument or even with a sign.

Griffin Gulch is named for Henry Griffin, the miner who, on Oct. 23, 1861, discovered gold and set off the first Eastern Oregon gold rush.