Fire vehicles park atop a ridge Saturday, June 26, 2021, while fighting a fire along Airport Road outside of Pendleton. The Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office later that day arrested an Enterprise man for first-degree arson in connection to the fire.

PENDLETON — The Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office arrested an Enterprise transient Saturday, June 26, for setting a fire that burned hundreds of acres in the Stage Gulch area of Airport Hill, Pendleton.

The sheriff’s office booked Michael Dean Summers, 36, into the county jail on a lone count of first-degree arson.

Sheriff’s Lt. Sterrin Ward said Pendleton police were in the area of the fire. Summers caught their attention when they found out he made comments suggesting he set the fire.

“He was saying he was sending up smoke signals,” Ward said, “and he made a comment about ‘God made me do it.’”

Summers also appeared to be suffering from exposure to the high heat, and an ambulance took him to CHI St. Anthony Hospital, Pendleton. Ward also said Pendleton police wasted no time in contacting the arson investigator with the sheriff’s office.

As soon as the hospital released Summers, the sheriff’s office arrested him for first-degree arson and booked him into the county jail. His preliminary bail is $250,000.

According to state court records, Summers was on a conditional release from Wallowa County following his arrest June 19 in Enterprise on misdemeanors of second-degree disorderly conduct and trespass. Summers has a plea hearing in that case on Sept. 8.

The Pendleton Fire Department responded to a report at 2:29 p.m. June 26 that a fire was burning north of Stage Gulch and Barnhart roads, according to Capt. Stephen Brost of the Pendleton Fire Department. The fire later spread toward Interstate 84, which prompted officials to close the freeway.

The Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office also briefly closed down Airport Road during the fire, according to Ward.

Officials confirmed crews at around 4:30 p.m. were starting to contain the fire and reopened I-84.

The fire burned in standing wheat, and gusts of wind contributed to its spread, Brost said.

The fire nearly forced people to evacuate from three homes along Stage Gulch Road, Ward said, but firefighters hustled to protect the homes and no evacuations were necessary.

Multiple agencies responded to the fire, Brost said, including the Echo Rural Fire Department, Umatilla Tribal Fire Department and Pilot Rock Rural Fire Protection District. The Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office, the Oregon State Police and the Oregon Department of Transportation also provided assistance.