East Umatilla Fire & Rescue responded to a small brush fire on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020, just north of Adams and west of Athena.

UMATILLA COUNTY — East Umatilla Fire & Rescue responded to a small brush fire on Saturday, Sept. 12, at 3:55 p.m. just north of Adams and west of Athena.

According to a news release from the district, the fire burned an acre of dried weeds and thistles and “started to creep into the trees.” When firefighters arrived, there were three civilians already fighting the fire with their own water tender.

Two brush trucks, three water tenders, two medic units, three command vehicles and 14 firefighters battled the blaze. The district stated that the fire was human-caused, from “carelessness” in discarding smoking material.