Places and events that weren’t already closed or curtailed by COVID-19 are being canceled as a result of wildfire danger and smoke, creating some of the worst air quality conditions in the world.
Meanwhile, residents of Oregon’s largest city are noticing more smoke and evacuation notices creeping closer, as the fires continue to burn through Clackamas County.
Residents of Estacada, Molalla and Colton are under Level 3 “leave now” evacuation advisories as of Thursday evening; Oregon City, Canby, Sandy and Mount Hood are Level 2, which means they should be ready to go at a moment’s notice. Firefighters are preparing for the Beachie Creek, also known as the Santiam, and Riverside fires to merge and have cleared the area between the two fires.
Multnomah County has yet to issue an evacuation order, but Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler closed all Portland parks and outdoor spaces and has declared an emergency.
In Medford, the Almeda fire remained stable, though much of the city is still under a Level 3 evacuation order. But a few miles northeast, the Obenchain fire expanded rapidly, and several small communities were placed under Level 3 evacuation orders.
The Holiday Farm Fire continues to burn near the Springfield/Eugene metro area. Reduced winds yesterday allowed crews to bring in heavy machinery to expand fire lines near Rainbow to the east and Springfield to the west. No new evacuation orders were issued yesterday.
All told, 900,000 acres have burned, and more than 500,000 people are under some level of evacuation or preevacuation orders.
These online tools offer up-to-the-minute emergency information on wildfires, evacuations and air quality in the Pacific Northwest:
Thousands of people across Oregon have been forced to evacuate this week as wildfires burned across hundreds of thousands of acres of land. Often there was little time between the Level 1, or “Get Ready,” notification, and Level 3, or “Go Now.”
That forced many people to make split-second decisions about what to bring, what to leave and where to go.
Making those decisions about what to do in an active evacuation scenario is almost impossibly difficult — even for those of us who cover wildfires and other natural disasters for a living.
This week’s fires are a reminder that very few of us are immune from the risk of wildfire in Oregon, even in a major city.
Here’s what you can do to prepare before you get an evacuation order or experience a disaster.
Right now, a bit of rain would be widely celebrated as wildfires rage across the state. But when big rain storms hit this fall, they’ll bring a much higher risk of landslides because of all the steep slopes that burned.
Wildfires wipe out the trees and plants that help keep soil, rocks and water from running down slopes and wreaking havoc as they go, according to Portland State University geology professor Scott Burns.
“With wildfires, the risk of landslides goes significantly up,” he said. “This is a real big potential problem. Without trees and vegetation you definitely have an increased chance of slope instability.”
About 3,000 firefighters are currently battling the flames scorching Oregon — which have devoured 900,00 acres and prompted as many as 40,000 people to evacuate — but in order to get the fires contained, officials warn they need double the humanpower.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has requested help from other states — Utah strike teams are on their way — and she’s asked the U.S. Department of Defense for a battalion of trained firefighters to assist.
“We have never seen this amount of uncontained fire across the state,” the governor said in a press briefing on Thursday.
The governor said she knows the “situation is bleak right now,” and said the state “will get through this.”
Here’s what the state’s top officials are saying about the fire situation.
School districts around Oregon and Washington are dealing with the impacts of wildfires on the start of a school year already destabilized by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Several districts have delayed the start of the school year or canceled school this week.
Salem-Keizer schools will start for students in grades K-12 Wednesday, with time to meet with a teacher and classmates. Instruction will begin Thursday.
“While we focus on everyone’s safety, we are making changes to next week’s back-to-school schedule,” said Superintendent Christy Perry in a statement.
Springfield and Eugene 4j have both delayed the beginning of the school year, starting Sept. 21 instead of Sept. 14.
More on fire-related school impacts, check here.
Although Multnomah County wasn’t under any evacuation orders late Thursday, Mayor Ted Wheeler declared a citywide emergency and officials with the Metro regional government and Clackamas County announced they were working to set up the Oregon Convention Center as a shelter for people forced from wildfires.
Metro said the center would accommodate up to “400 people with lodging, shower facilities and parking.” But the message didn’t say how soon it would open.
As wildfires get closer to Portland, residents are being advised to keep an eye out for evacuation advisories.
Smoke-filled air and the unpredictability of fire led to cancellations of major events: The Portland Thorns’ Saturday game against the OL Reign has been postponed until Sept. 15. The Oregon Zoo will be closed Friday.
And the Oregon and Washington transportation departments are postponing a planned closure of the northbound span of the Interstate Bridge. It had been scheduled for Sept. 12-20.
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