Residents of Central and Eastern Oregon faced smoke-filled skies and closed highways Monday morning after hot, dry weather and strong winds fueled wildfires and burned homes over the weekend.
Oregon currently has dozens of active, large fires burning statewide, covering more than 1 million acres, according to Jessica Neujahr, public affairs officer for the Oregon Department of Forestry.
She said conditions are so dry that “any small ember right now could potentially start the next large wildfire.”
Lightning storms sparked many of today’s wildfires, and more could be on the way. Forecasters expect another round of lightning in northeastern Oregon Thursday afternoon.
Update: 4 p.m. Monday, July 27
As of this afternoon, more than 6,200 people were under Level 3 “Go Now!” evacuations in Oregon. Another 26,000 were under lower levels of evacuation.
Some people have taken to social media to ask how they could help.
Multiple Portland-area businesses appear to be collecting donations for people who had to leave their homes in Warm Springs at a moment’s notice.
Financial gifts are the most effective way to help people during wildfires. People can donate funds to organizations like the American Red Cross, or find other trusted organizations currently involved in wildfire response by calling 211 or visiting 211info.org.
The Oregon Department of Emergency Management also has a list of trusted organizations that are accepting donations.
Meanwhile, more than 12,400 firefighters were working on wildfires in Oregon: digging containment lines, clearing brush and dropping water onto flames.
Rural, volunteer-run fire departments might be collecting items like bottled water. Generally, though, they have enough food and water.
“Firefighters are really well taken care of when they’re deployed out to these incidents,” said Kyle Williams, deputy director of fire operations at the Oregon Department of Forestry. “We get caterers out there. There’s showers in camp. You get a cool lunch.”
Williams suggested people donate to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation, which helps injured firefighters and the families of firefighters who have died.
People can also show their support through homemade signs thanking firefighters.
Update: 2:15 p.m. Monday, July 27
The Oregon Department of Transportation is advising drivers to check road conditions before traveling in parts of Eastern or Central Oregon.
Wildfires burning near Interstate 84, between Baker City and Ontario, closed the freeway in the area. The road reopened Monday evening.
Transportation officials said parts of the freeway could open or close with little notice, as fire conditions are changing rapidly.
Wildfires have also closed parts of U.S. 20 and U.S. 26 east of the Cascades.
“Do not rely on GPS to find alternate routes,” an ODOT update said Monday afternoon. “Smaller highways cannot accommodate interstate traffic volumes and are easily congested or blocked.”
For 24/7 road conditions and traffic alerts in Oregon, visit tripcheck.com or call 5-1-1.
Update: 2 p.m. Monday, July 27
As of Monday, the Big Grass Fire, near Jordan Valley, also grew to nearly 200,000 acres, with only 5% containment, prompting Level 3 “Go Now!” evacuation orders for residents in the area.
Jordan Valley resident Tara Echave has been on the ground, watching it rapidly increase over the past three days and expressing heightened anxiety among community members.
“We cannot do it on our own. We need air support, and we need ground support from people who are skilled firefighters and have the right equipment,” she said.
Echave said the community has mobilized to provide food, drinks and supplies to firefighters and volunteers at the Mormon and Catholic churches, as well as at the Pleasant Valley School.
Monday morning, Owyhee County commissioners approved $30,000 in emergency funding. But each afternoon they are seeing winds pick up, and “wouldn’t take a whole lot for that fire to get going in the wrong direction.”
Echave said they are hoping for additional help from the state.
“It truly is a disaster for our community. We need help now, and we’re going to need it later too,” she said.
Update: 1:20 p.m. Monday, July 27
The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office reduced multiple evacuation levels Monday afternoon for several areas southeast of the Akawa Butte Fire.
Officials are reminding people in the area to drive carefully and to pay attention to roadblocks that might have moved. They are urging residents to take extra precautions when traveling as fire crews continue to extinguish hot spots near the fire lines.
The sheriff’s office is also warning residents that power may still be out in some areas. The Akawa Butte Fire is burning more than 27,000 acres in Deschutes and Jefferson counties and is 6% contained.
Update: 1 p.m. Monday, July 27
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality issued an air quality advisory Monday due to the multiple wildfires burning in Southern, Central and Eastern Oregon.
The advisory is in effect for Baker, Crook, Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Jefferson, Malheur, Morrow, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa, Wasco and Wheeler counties until further notice.
Intermittent smoke and degraded air quality are possible in Deschutes, Eastern Douglas, Hood River, northern Jackson, northern Klamath, Lake and Sherman counties.
Smoke can irritate people’s eyes and lungs and worsen some medical conditions, and smoke levels can change quickly. People in the affected areas can check current conditions on the Oregon Smoke Information Blog and at the DEQ Air Quality Index,
Update: 12 p.m. Monday, July 27
Six homes and five agricultural buildings have burned in the Bench and Beachcomb fires in Warm Springs.
Those fires have merged and are now called the Bench Fire. It’s covering about 40,200 acres.
As of this morning, the out-of-control fire had “potential for extreme fire behavior” because of strong winds.
Nearly 400 people were under Level 3 “Go Now!” evacuation orders. Another 1,200 people were under lower evacuation levels.
Warm Springs resident Alysia Klick’ump told OPB that she and her husband tried to evacuate on Saturday, but couldn’t leave due to highway closures.
“We got packed up in camper to evacuate, and the highway closed on each end of our reservation,” Klick’ump said. “We couldn’t evacuate and were up until 1 or 2 a.m.”
