A fire that apparently started when a tractor caught fire burned about 500 acres between Hibbard and Fox creeks, just west of Brownlee Reservoir about 12 miles north of Huntington, on Tuesday afternoon and evening, July 15.

The Daybreak Fire, named for a ranch along Hibbard Creek, was 40% contained as of 9 p.m. The Snake River Road, the gravel route that connects Huntington to Richland, is closed, said Ashley McClay, public information officer for the Baker County Sheriff’s Office.

The fire threatened two homes and several outbuildings, said Larisa Bogardus, public information officer for the Vale District. No evacuation notices were issued.

The fire is under investigation, Bogardus said.

The fire burned in grass and sagebrush on both sides of the Snake River Road, Bogardus said. Gusty north winds contributed to the fire’s spread, although it burned in the evening to the north, against the prevailing wind.

Several fire engines and multiple aircraft worked on the fire, Bogardus said.

The air fleet included an MD-87 jet tanker, a converted passenger plane that can carry 3,000 gallons of fire retardant.

Volunteers from Huntington Rural and Keating Rural fire districts, and the Burnt River and Vale rangeland fire protection associations, also worked on the fire, Bogardus said.

Members of the Keating department and a firefighting crew from La Grande helped horses that were stranded in the burned area near Hibbard Creek.

Hibbard Creek is about a mile north of Morgan Creek, a mile south of Fox Creek and two miles south of Connor Creek. The Daybreak Ranch is along Hibbard Creek west of the Snake River Road. There is also an historic cemetery on the edge of Brownlee Reservoir just east of the Snake River Road.

The terrain is steep, with a mixture of grass and sagebrush.