Crews working to contain the nearly 3,800-acre Cedar Creek Fire near Waldo Lake also were able to tackle several new lightning-sparked fires in the area from Tuesday’s intense thunderstorms, officials said Wednesday.
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An Oregon Department of Forestry staff member uses a live map to track lightning strikes around the region, and a network of cameras to watch for new fires from the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center in Redmond.
Continue ReadingKLAMATH RIVER, Calif. (AP) — Firefighters battling the McKinney Fire in Northern California on Monday remembered long-time U.S. Forest Service employee Kathy Shoopman, the first publicly identified victim of the fire. The fire burning west of Yreka has killed four people, and crews continue to search the area for other possible victims. The other three
Continue ReadingThe Cedar Creek Fire that has closed the Waldo Creek Wilderness Area surged and nearly doubled in size on Sunday, topping 3,200 acres as the National Weather Service issued a new Red Flag (fire weather) warning and heat advisory for the the first couple days of the new week over much of the region.
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While firefighters continued making progress Sunday on several mostly lightning-sparked wildfires around the region, officials on the still-growing Cedar Creek Fire near Waldo Lake are still trying to determine the best way to access and contain the hard-to-reach blaze.
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A break in the extreme heat (which is set to return) and in the recent thunderstorms have allowed thousands of Northwest firefighters to build lines and containment figures on several large wildfires burning around the region, officials said in Saturday’s updates.
Continue ReadingBy GILLIAN FLACCUS Associated Press A wildfire burning in a remote area just south of the Oregon border appears to have caused the deaths of tens of thousands of Klamath River fish, the Karuk Tribe said Saturday. The tribe said in a statement that the dead fish of all species were found Friday near Happy
Continue ReadingBy SHERAZ SADIQ Oregon Public Broadcasting Scientists at the Oregon Institute of Technology were recently awarded a $1 million grant from the federal government that could result in research that improves health outcomes in Southern Oregon due to wildfire smoke. Since 2019, a team of Oregon Tech scientists has been studying the capacity of hospitals
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While larger wildfires were battled elsewhere in Oregon, fire activity was relatively quiet Thursday around Central Oregon, allowing firefighters to make great progress increasing containment on existing blazes, officials said Friday.
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By GILLIAN FLACCUS Associated Press PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A new map in Oregon that rated the wildfire risk of every tax lot in the state — labeling nearly 80,000 structures as high-risk — generated so much pushback from angry homeowners that officials abruptly retracted it, saying they had not done enough local outreach before
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LIND, Wash. (AP) — A small town in Washington state that was evacuated due to a fast-moving fire was largely spared Friday, while in California crews made progress against the state’s deadliest and largest wildfire of the year. Adams County Sheriff Dale Wagner said the fire that had been threating the eastern Washington town of
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Fire restrictions will go into effect on the Willamette National Forest beginning Friday. Except in designated campgrounds, all campfires, charcoal or briquette fires, pellet fires, or any other fires will be prohibited. Restrictions will also go into effect for chainsaws, generators, and smoking.
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New wildfire-fighting equipment is being tested in Bend. Kawak Aviation is developing a new high-tech helicopter bucket. Their Cascade bucket will be the largest firefighting bucket built in North America, holding more than 2,000 gallons of water.
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The private owners of the 33,000-acre Bull Springs/Skyline Forest west of Bend – a tree farm bigger than the city itself — said Thursday they will be taking the rare step of closing off public access next week due to extreme fire conditions, to reduce the risk of human-caused fires.
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The Cedar Creek Fire near Waldo Lake that sent smoke streaming into Central Oregon on Wednesday has more than doubled in size, to about 1,200 acres, officials said Thursday, while progress on the Fly Creek Fire allowed officials to lift evacuation levels for Three Rivers, Montgomery Shores and two campgrounds.
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Oregon State Forester and Oregon Department of Forestry Director Cal Mukumoto announced Thursday that a controversial wildfire risk map released to the public by the legislatively imposed deadline of June 30 will be withdrawn and revised to address concerns and make improvements to its accuracy.
Continue ReadingLIND, Wash. (AP) — An entire eastern Washington town was evacuated Thursday because of a growing wildfire south of town that was burning homes, officials said. At about 1:30 p.m. Thursday the Adams County Sheriff’s Office said on Facebook that about 10 homes in Lind had burned. “At this time all residents of the town
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As firefighting crews across Oregon work to stop wildfires large and small, many ignited by recent lightning, a new fire on Green Butte southeast of La Pine grew from 10 to 30 acres Wednesday and is zero percent contained, officials said.
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SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) — Due to the ongoing threat of wildfires in Oregon and neighboring states, the Oregon Department of Agriculture is providing an emergency exemption to all import requirements for companion animals and livestock under an evacuation order for fire or other natural disaster. The exemption applies only under the following conditions. The farm/residence
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By HAVEN DALEY and CHRISTOPHER WEBER Associated Press KLAMATH RIVER, Calif. (AP) — A week ago, the scenic Northern California hamlet of Klamath River was home to about 200 people and had a community center, post office and a corner grocery store. Now, after a wildfire raged through the forested region near the Oregon state
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