SPRINGFIELD, Ore. (KTVZ) — With hot, dry temperatures and the possibility of lightning in the forecast, the Willamette National Forest will increase public-use restrictions to Stage 2, prohibiting all open fires. The new restrictions are in effect through Nov. 30, unless modified or rescinded sooner. The Fire Danger Level across the Forest remains “HIGH” and
Continue ReadingBy Forrest Brown, CNN (CNN) — Walls of bright orange flames. Harrowing escapes. The charred shells of what’s left behind. It’s hard not to be terrified by images of deadly wildfires. Jon Heggie – who has been a division chief with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) – knows what’s it’s
Continue ReadingBy Holly Yan and Andy Rose, CNN (CNN) — While California battles the fifth-largest wildfire in state history, a trio of wildfires near Denver has forced hundreds of evacuations and claimed at least one life. Here’s the latest on a barrage of blazes burning in several western states: • Colorado’s Stone Canyon Fire turns deadly:
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Former Bend city councilor and mayor Jodie Barram plays a different public role these days, as a public information officer for NW Team 6, helping fight Eastern Oregon wildfires.
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Organizers with the Newberry Regional Partnership met with a packed room of more than 100 La Pine community members Monday night to discuss possible solutions to the growing homelessness problem in the area and the risk of wildfires it poses.
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Some new out-of-state help has arrived to help lead the fight against two fires burning in the Ochoco National Forest. The Crazy Creek fire north of Paulina has grown to more than 22,000 acres, with no containment. The Kitty Creek Fire is at 73 acres and 86% contained.
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(Update: All evacuation levels dropped around Jackpine, Wickiup fires) PRINEVILLE, Ore. (KTVZ) – A person who shot a pound of Tannerite explosive target compound on BLM land south of Prineville Saturday afternoon, sparking a fast-growing 20-acre wildfire, was cited by Crook County sheriff’s deputies for reckless burning and criminal mischief, an official said Tuesday —
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SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) — Governor Tina Kotek on Tuesday ordered flags at Oregon public institutions to be flown at half-staff between sunrise on Wednesday, July 31 to sunset on Thursday, August 1, in memory of James Bailey Maxwell, 71, the lifelong pilot killed in the crash of his single-engine air tanker while helping fight an
Continue ReadingBy Zoe Sottile, Susannah Cullinane and Holly Yan, CNN (CNN) — Wildfires are raging out of control in the Western United States and Canada – destroying homes, forcing evacuations and injuring residents. One inferno has reportedly destroyed the historic mining community of Havilah. Another has scorched more than 360,000 acres of California – an area
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SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) — The Oregon Department of Forestry said Monday it has ordered four hand crews through the Oregon National Guard, the latest step in a wide-ranging effort to contain and put out over 100 wildfires across the state, several that have grown to “mega-fire” status of over 100,000 acres. Through Governor Kotek’s State of
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Associated Press FOREST RANCH, Calif. (AP) — Wildfires across the western United States and Canada put millions of people under air quality alerts on Sunday as thousands of firefighters battled the flames, including the largest wildfire in California this year. The so-called Park Fire had scorched an area greater than the size of Los Angeles
Continue ReadingBy Emma Tucker, CNN (CNN) — As the Park Fire continues to rapidly grow and threaten thousands more acres of northern California, an evacuation warning has been issued for the town of Paradise, a place where people know the horrors of a raging wildfire all too well. In 2018, the deadliest wildfire in state history,
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Several of Oregon’s largest recent wildfires are at or over 50% containment, thanks to the hard work of thousands of firefighters, while others being tackled are still at zero or in the single digits as the total burned surpasses 1 million acres, the Oregon Department of Forestry said in Sunday’s situation update.
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DURKEE, Ore. (KTVZ) – Eastern Oregon’s 11-day-old lightning-sparked Durkee Fire, largest in the state so far this challenging fire season, has grown to more than 288,000 acres, but crews have brought it to 49% containment and the latest state task forces departed Sunday as the structural threat has lessened. California’s massive Park Fire has grown
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Associated Press Decades of snuffing out fires at the first sign of smoke combined with climate change have laid the groundwork for a massive wildfire in northern California and scores of smaller ones across the western U.S. and Canada, experts say. These fires are moving faster and are harder to fight than those in the
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PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Due to the intense wildfire activity in the Pacific Northwest, Forest Service leaders in the region said Sunday they have authorized the use of heavy equipment and fire retardant to suppress wildfires in roadless and wilderness areas, on a case-by-case basis. “These aggressive suppression actions are only used when they are
Continue Reading BURNS, Ore. (KTVZ) – Authorities on Sunday released the name of the single-engine air tanker pilot killed while helping fight an Eastern Oregon wildfire: James Bailey Maxwell, 74, an experienced pilot who had spent 54 years flying and logged about 24,000 hours of flight time. Maxwell was killed late Thursday night in the crash of
Continue Reading Ground and air crews were called out Saturday afternoon to tackle a new brush fire reported east of George Millican Road and about six miles southwest of Prineville that burned about 20 acres by early evening and held it to that size overnight.
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Associated Press FOREST RANCH, Calif. (AP) — Thousands of firefighters battling a wildfire in Northern California received some help from the weather Saturday hours after it exploded in size, scorching an area greater than the size of Los Angeles. The blaze was one of several tearing through the western United States and Canada, fueled by
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PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) – After a week of wildfire-related road closures, travelers across Oregon should continue to carefully plan their routes. Fires are still actively burning near many highways, causing them to close and reopen with little notice, ODOT advised. With several more weeks of a long, hot summer ahead, wildfire-related disruptions are likely to
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