Category Archives: Forest Fires

Among fire operations this week, crews worked to limit the Big Hollow Fire from spreading to the west and prepped roads to burn a control line at the fire’s southern edge in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.  The wildfire, which is located about 15 miles northwest of Carson and 7 miles southeast of Cougar, was 10 percent contained and had grown to 22,153 acres as of Tuesday night, according to the latest estimate from the U.S. Forest Service.  The fire’s growth of about 1,340 acres since Tuesday morning can be attributed to burnout in areas previously untouched that have since been scorched, connecting parts of its uneven parameter, said Fire Operations Chief Aaron Rowe.  Smoke, fog and a slight chance of rain were in the forecast Tuesday, with winds less than 10 mph, the Forest Service said.

Firefighters battling huge wildfires throughout Oregon are making progress thanks to better weather and national resources, but they face challenges in coming days with a forecast for wind and lightning, state officials say. The progress comes as Oregon’s known wildfire death toll dropped Monday to at least eight, given that two sets of remains thought to be human were determined to be animals. Meanwhile, 50 people remained unaccounted for Monday — a number that …may rise as recovery efforts continue. …Blazes throughout the state have destroyed more than 1,000 homes, forced tens of thousands of people to flee and burned more than 1 million acres. …Doug Grafe, chief of fire protection at the Oregon Department of Forestry, said the blaze he is most concerned about in the coming days as winds could pick up is the Brattain fire near Paisley. The blaze grew 4,151 acres from Monday morning to Tuesday morning and now covers a total of 34,151 acres.

California, Oregon and Washington are enduring a wildfire season of historic proportions. More than two dozen people have diedsince early September, when powerful winds helped spark fires and propel existing ones, leaving millions of acres charred and thousands of structures destroyed. Air quality has become a large concern, as clouds of ash and smoke spread across the region. The health effects of wildfire smoke are not fully understood, but it has been linked to serious health problems and research suggeststhat the effects don’t necessarily go away when skies clear. Here are maps of some of the major fires that are burning across the three states.

John Spencer

[This story has a sections on evacuation notices, resources for animals and livestock, volunteer opportunities, mental health services and fire status] Doug Grafe, chief of fire protection at the Oregon Department of Forestry, gave an update Monday afternoon on a number of the fires currently burning in Oregon and what the outlook is for them in the coming days. The rain fire officials were hoping to get early this week might not arrive until Wednesday or Thursday depending on location and could be accompanied by lightning. Winds in the south-central part of the state could push some fires to grow in the coming days. Overall, firefighters have made significant progress on the state’s most dangerous wildfires in the past four days, Grafe said. …Officials from the Marion County Sheriff’s office said they are still looking for one person reported missing as authorities continue search and rescue operations for Beachie Fire victims. 

It’s become a near-annual occurrence. …The yearly eruption of hundreds of wildfires across the West is no longer surprising. What’s surprising is “our society’s ability to continue to tolerate” lives lost and billions of dollars in damages and firefighting costs, year after year, says Tom Harbour, the former director of fire and aviation at the U.S. Forest Service.  Especially, he says, when we know of ways to reduce the risk.  The wave of fires that erupted this week on the West Coast, like previous record-breaking blazes, are further validation of something forest ecologists and fire veterans have been saying for years: that no amount of firefighting resources will avert the next big wildfire. …Instead of treating it as a threat to be swiftly extinguished, communities need to learn to live with fire, as people have before.

Here is the status of some of Oregon’s more than 28 large wildfires as of Sunday morning. The death toll grew to 10, with three more human remains found in Jackson County. Meanwhile, of the 50 people unaccounted for only one remaining missing in the aftermath of a blaze that leveled entire neighborhoods in the small southern Oregon towns of Phoenix and Talent. Statewide, wildfires have burned more than a million acres. The Oregonian/OregonLive has compiled fire information and evacuation resources for 10 of the state’s most prominent blazes, with information updated as of Saturday afternoon.

MONTANA — Red flag weather conditions capable of producing extreme fire behavior are expected Monday across parts of south-central and southeast Montana, according to the National Weather Service in Billings. Crews continued to work Sunday on both the Bridger Foothills fire near Bozeman and the Bobcat fire in Musselshell County south of Roundup. The Bridger Foothills fire was reported Sunday to be 77% contained. The Bobcat fire was reported to be 88% contained. The Lone Star fire in Yellowstone National Park has burned about 5.3 miles of mature spruce, fir and lodgepole pine and is expected to see a warming and drying trend through Wednesday. Amid critical fire weather conditions, the weather service is urging people to do what they can to minimize the chance of starting a fire. 

Firefighting teams across the West Coast braced for unpredictable wind gusts and drier weather on Monday, conditions that threatened to make new kindling out of forests and strengthen already dire wildfires that have burned more than five million acres, destroyed scores of homes and left at least 24 people dead. Disastrous wildfires this season have forced hundreds of thousands of people out of their homes and turned forests, fields and communities into blasted landscapes, covered by hazardous smoke and falling ash. State leaders have raced for weeks to contain one spiraling fire after another, straining their emergency services and prompting them to plead for help from other states and the federal government. President Trump is scheduled on Monday to visit McClellan Park, Calif., east of where a fire, now largely contained, recently burned more than 363,000 acres near Sacramento. The authorities have warned for days not to expect relief soon.

A dangerous wildfire, pushed by strong winds through dry grass and timber, continues to burn north of Chiloquin. As of 8 a.m. Thursday, the Two Four Two Fire was about 12,500 acres in size. It remains at 5 percent containment. About 315 homes remain evacuated, according to the South Central Oregon Fire Management Partnership … About 228 people on Wednesday were able to return to their homes …. There were no known injuries or fatalities as of Thursday morning. Eight homes were confirmed destroyed and 31 others have been damaged. A total of 70 structures have been damaged. On Wednesday, firefighters held the line on the east side of the fire along Highway 97. They used bulldozers to clear fuel. Planes and helicopters dropped water and fire retardant … Firefighters used hand tools and water to cool hot spots along the edges to help hold the line. But, the windy and dry conditions proved difficult and pushed the fire north.

Jay Inslee

MALDEN, Washington — Wildfires have scorched nearly 937 square miles in Washington state this week, Gov. Jay Inslee said Thursday as he toured the devastated remains of the town of Malden. That’s more than in any year in the state’s history except for 2015, Inslee said.” …Malden Mayor Chris Ferrell said residents only had minutes to get out of town before the wind-drive flames moved in on Monday. No one was killed or seriously injured. Inslee said the state is already responding to the losses in Malden, which had around 200 residents, and nearby Pine City, which was even smaller. The Democratic governor has declared a state of emergency to free up cash assistance for families in need. Crews have started work to restore utilities. But more than 80% of the homes in Malden were destroyed by the flames, and officials have said many people did not have insurance.

A Northern California wildfire that destroyed a foothill hamlet has become the state’s deadliest blaze of the year with 10 people confirmed dead – and the toll could climb as searchers look for 16 missing people. The North Complex fire that exploded in wind-driven flames earlier in the week was advancing more slowly Friday after the winds eased and smoke from the blaze shaded the area and lowered the temperature, allowing firefighters to make progress, authorities said. However, the smoke made for poor visibility and fire helicopters couldn’t fly Thursday. In most parts of the state, red flag warnings of extreme fire danger because of hot, dry weather or gusty winds were lifted. …More than 2,000 homes and other buildings had burned in the fire, which began several weeks ago as a lightning-sparked collection of blazes northeast of San Francisco. …More than 1,400 square miles have burned this week in Oregon… more than 500,000 people … have been forced to evacuate.

At least three people died in a wind-whipped Northern California wildfire that has forced thousands of people from their homes while carving a 25-mile path of destruction through mountainous terrain and parched foothills… . Hundreds, if not thousands, of homes and other buildings are believed to have been damaged or destroyed by the blaze northeast of San Francisco … The fire has also threatened Paradise, a town devastated just two years ago by the deadliest blaze in state history … The North Complex fire was one of more than two dozen burning in the California, including three of the five largest ever in the state. Other wildfires charred huge swaths of the West amid gusty, dry conditions. Forecasters said some weather relief was in sight and could help firefighters overwhelmed by the blazes. In Washington, more acres burned in a single day than firefighters usually see all year.

Oregon is being swept by likely the most deadly and destructive fires in its history, Gov. Kate Brown said Wednesday…. As of noon Wednesday, 47 active fires covering 374,522 acres were burning in Oregon, according to the Oregon Office of Emergency Management. Brown said that the communities of Blue River and Vida in Lane County had been devastated, while Phoenix and Talent in Southern Oregon reported significant damage. State officials said they had no number yet on casualties, but they were expected. Mortuary units from the Oregon National Guard are being activated. The fires continue to burn largely unchallenged as firefighters concentrate on evacuating people to safety. “We are having limited success,” said Doug Grafe, with the Department of Forestry. “Most I would put at 0% containment.” Brown said that towns along the western facing valleys of the Santiam River, McKenzie River and Rogue River had been destroyed.

Wind-whipped wildfires roared through the state of Washington on Tuesday, virtually wiping out an entire small town and consuming more than 330,000 acres of brush and timber, authorities said. Among nine significant fires across the state, at least three between Colfax and Malden, in Whitman County, had touched off Monday, officials said. Fueled by high winds and an abundance of dry brush, at least two were still going strong Tuesday, they said. …Gov. Jay Inslee said, “An estimated 330,000 acres of our state burned just in 24 hours. More acres burned yesterday than in 12 of the last entire fire seasons in the state of Washington.” “We think all of these are human-caused in some dimension,” he said. National Guard troops were assisting firefighters, Franz said. Hot weather, “hurricane-force winds” and dry brush worked against them, she said.

Jim Murray

Raging wildfires, windy conditions and a heat wave with temperatures reaching upward of 100 degrees converged in a dangerous combination over the weekend, as extreme weather continued to batter much of the Western United States on Tuesday.  In California, helicopters battled smoky skies overnight in an attempt to rescue dozens of people trapped in the fiery depths of the Sierra National Forest, with at least 362 people flown to safety by Tuesday afternoon.  In Oregon, fires in Santiam Canyon east of Salem blanketed the city in such thick smoke that the sky was an apocalyptic orange. The Oregon Department of Corrections evacuated 1,450 inmates from three nearby prisons, and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office shared a video of multiple structure fires in Mill City.

SHAVER LAKE, Calif. — More than a dozen California firefighters trying to protect a fire station in rugged mountains were overrun by flames Tuesday, and several were hurt. Elsewhere, military helicopters rescued more than 150 people stranded in a burning forest.  Fourteen firefighters deployed emergency shelters as flames overtook them and destroyed the Nacimiento Station in the Los Padres National Forest on the state’s central coast, the U.S. Forest Service said. They suffered from burns and smoke inhalation, and three were flown to a hospital in Fresno, where one was in critical condition.  The injuries came as wind-driven flames of more than two dozen major fires chewed through bone-dry California and forced new evacuations after a scorching Labor Day weekend that saw a dramatic airlift of more than 200 people.

A dangerous wildfire, pushed by strong winds through dry grass and timber, continues to burn near Chiloquin.  Called the Two Four Two Fire, it grew quickly Monday night, pushed by fierce winds. As of 5 p.m. Tuesday it had grown to more than 6,000 acres with no containment. Fire mangers said the fire moved “in all directions” Tuesday as gusty conditions continued through the day.  Fire managers said they are still assessing structures that may have been lost. There were no known injuries or fatalities as of Tuesday evening.  A Level 3 Evacuation for Oregon Shores 1, north of Maidu Road, was issued Tuesday morning and most residents have evacuated.  There is a new Level 3 Evacuation for residents in the area north of the Road 422 and Highway 62 junction east of the Wood River, south of Crooked Creek between Wood River and the State Fish Hatchery. Residences, if not already evacuatedm should evacuate now.

Rescuers in military helicopters airlifted 207 people to safety over the weekend after an explosive wildfire trapped them in a popular camping area in California’s Sierra National Forest, one of dozens of fires burning amid record-breaking temperatures that strained the state’s electrical grid and for a time threatened power outages for millions. Meanwhile in other states: Montana remained in a state of fire emergency due to extremely hazardous wildland fire conditions throughout Montana. Gov. Steve Bullock issued an executive order Thursday. A cold front is expected to bring temporary relief with freezing temperatures and a chance of rain and snow in some parts of the state Monday night. In Washington state, fire crews have made progress battling a wildfire near Yakima but officials are worried about high winds forecast throughout the weekend.

Fire crews across northwest Oregon are battling extreme winds and historically challenging fire conditions as multiple wildfires spread into populated areas east of Salem and Eugene. Wildfires are burning in the Santiam Canyon and McKenzie River Corridor, closing large chunks of Highway 22 and Highway 126 and bringing widespread evacuations. It’s unclear where the wildfires came from or how large the Lionshead Fire, which was burning near Mount Jefferson, and Beachie Creek Fire, in the Opal Creek Wilderness, have become. What is clear is that numerous fires have spread quickly, bringing “Go Now” evacuations to the Santiam Canyon (Lyons-Mehama, Mill City, Gates, Detroit and idanha) and the McKenzie River (Leaburg east to the McKenzie Ranger Station). 

Gavin Newsom

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday declared a state of emergency for five counties due to the increasing danger posed by three wildfires currently burning in the state, which have forced thousands to evacuate. Newsom noted that tens of thousands of acres have been burned by three fires, the Creek Fire, El Dorado Fire and Valley Fire, and added that the state was working with federal authorities for assistance. “Governor Newsom has declared a statewide emergency due to the widespread fires and extreme weather conditions, and secured a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration to bolster the state’s emergency response to the Northern California wildfires,” the governor’s office said in a statement. …”California has also secured Fire Management Assistance Grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Gavin Newsom (rt)

Megafires sparked last month and still burning in Northern California now constitute three of the top four largest wildfires in modern state history, Cal Fire reports. The SCU Lightning Complex in the South Bay, at 391,578 acres as of Thursday, is No. 2. The LNU Lightning Complex in the North Bay, at 375,209 acres, is No. 3. And now the August Complex in Tehama County has moved to No. 4 on the list, at 287,106 acres. The No. 1 spot is still held by 2018’s Mendocino Complex fire, which left 459,123 acres burned.

OROFINO, Idaho — Two homes were destroyed and residents were being evacuated Sunday night after a rapidly spreading wildfire fire threatened the Cavendish-Ahsahka area near Orofino. The Whitetail Loop Fire was burning on narrow roads and in steep terrain, the Idaho Department of Lands reported. Crews from IDL, the Clearwater Potlatch Timber Protective Association, rural fire teams and a helitack crew were trying to establish a division structure to organize and gain resources on the fire. Marin Sanborn, spokeswoman for the IDL said the fire started about 4 p.m. Sunday. The cause is unknown and still under investigation. …Elsewhere in the area, the Shissler Fire located two miles south of Red River near Elk City grew by about 30 acres Saturday and is currently burning about 2,700 acres.

DENVER – Four major wildfires, and several smaller fires, continue to burn across Colorado Saturday. The Pine Gulch Fire on Thursday grew to the largest wildfire in state history, at more than 139,000 acres. Firefighters are increasing containment on it and the Grizzly Creek Fire burning near Glenwood Springs, but the Cameron Peak Fire in Larimer County is still 0% contained as of Sunday morning, and the Williams Fork Fire in Grand County is 5% contained. …The Pine Gulch Fire … is 77% contained after what fire officials said have been a few days of “highly successful” work. …There were still 915 personnel at the fire as of Friday morning, but officials said “many resources” would be demobilized Friday and sent to other fires and that they were discontinuing nighttime operations on the fire. …Firefighters continue to increase containment on the Grizzly Creek Fire …which was 71% contained as of Saturday afternoon at 32,448 acres – up just over 40 acres from Friday morning.

Residents of more than 100 homes are under mandatory evacuation orders as a wildfire continues to burn southeast of Mount Hood. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown invoked the Emergency Conflagration Act on Friday, making more state resources available to fight the White River fire. The blaze, which covered under 3,000 acres as recently as Thursday, has now grown to 9,791 acres. The fire spread significantly Thursday, moving from national forest land to state and private lands, according to fire officials. It also threatened structures in the community of Pine Grove. In addition to the mandatory evacuation orders, residents of nearly 200 more homes have been told to get ready or set to evacuate. The fire has prompted campground, recreation area, trail and road closures, as well.

BOULDER CREEK, CALIF. — When a massive wildfire swept through California’s oldest state park last week it was feared many trees in a grove of old-growth redwoods, some of them 2,000 years old and among the tallest living things on Earth, may finally have succumbed.  But an Associated Press reporter and photographer hiked the renowned Redwood Trail at Big Basin Redwoods State Park on Monday and confirmed most of the ancient redwoods had withstood the blaze. Among the survivors is one dubbed Mother of the Forest.  “That is such good news, I can’t tell you how much that gives me peace of mind,” said Laura McLendon, conservation director for the Sempervirens Fund, an environmental group dedicated to the protection of redwoods and their habitats.