One of the most destructive wildfire events in Oregon history, which killed five and burned hundreds of homes, was caused by embers raining down on the Santiam Canyon and not downed power lines sparking new fires, according to a long-awaited report released Wednesday that critics said was incomplete. Four and a half years after the 193,000-acre Santiam-Beachie Fires … the Oregon Department of Forestry released its investigation … into how the fires ignited and spread during a powerful windstorm Labor Day night of 2020. The report’s main conclusion is that power lines, mainly owned by utility giant PacifiCorp, were not to blame for the deadly and destructive fires, and that embers from the Beachie Creek Fire, which had been active for weeks in the Opal Creek Wilderness, caused the majority of destruction. That finding was almost the opposite of a Portland jury ruling in June 2023 that PacifiCorp was not only liable, but grossly negligent for the fires.
Wildfires forced a mandatory evacuation Sunday in a North Carolina county still recovering from Hurricane Helene, and South Carolina’s governor declared an emergency in response to a growing wildfire in that state. Hundreds of miles north, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service was battling a blaze in the Wharton State Forest. The North Carolina Department of Public Safety announced a mandatory evacuation starting at 8:20 p.m. Saturday for parts of Polk County in western North Carolina about 80 miles west of Charlotte. A shelter had been established in Columbus, North Carolina. …Also this weekend, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service has been battling a wildfire that broke out in the Wharton State Forest on Saturday. The fire had consumed about 2.7 square miles as of early Sunday morning and was about 50% contained, according to an 8 a.m. update.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An extreme fire danger continues to affect all counties across Kansas this week, and Missouri is also under a high fire danger this week. In Missouri, there were more than 40 wildfires burning across the state as of Monday morning. In Kansas, there were four — one burning across 1,500 acres east of Winfield and another spanning 1,200 acres west of Dover. “This week brings continued high fire danger across the state,” the Forest Service said. “Unfortunately, this is just the beginning of fire season.” In preparation for the fire danger this week, the Forest Service said it’s coordinated with the Great Plains Interstate Fire Compact to bring in reinforcements from out of state — including Wyoming and Utah.