Rep. Bentz Meets with La Pine Community about Darlene 3 Fire

U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ore., met with members of the La Pine community Tuesday to discuss the Darlene 3 Fire that threatened the town last month.

Bentz took a tour of fire-damaged areas then listened to community members, business people and sheriff's deputies about what happened during and after the fire that forced evacuations.

The group told Bentz about how close the fire came to taking out main power lines, nearly shut down the city's water system and almost burned into developed areas.

"We will be talking to the Bureau of Land Management in a few minutes and to the Forest Service. We’ll be saying ‘Hey, you can’t leave these cities and towns at risk.’ I mean cities because of the power line situation. You’ve got to let these power line corridors be expanded," Bentz said.

The congressman from Oregon's 2nd District said he decided to be in Oregon during fire season rather than attend this week's Republican National Convention in Wisconsin.

Bentz is facing Democrat Dan Ruby in November's general election. National election forecasters expect Bentz to win in the highly-conservative district.