Oregon Wildfires Burning From The Gorge To California Border
THE DALLES, Ore. (AP) — A fire that ignited Wednesday night in the Columbia River Gorge was 50% contained Thursday after burning about 100 acres of grass, scrub oak and brush, Oregon Department of Forestry officials said.
Crews from the nearby Mosier Creek fire are staffing both fires Thursday with the goal of having the new one mostly contained by the end of the day, officials said. Evacuation orders for that fire were lessened Thursday.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown on Wednesday declared a state of emergency in response to imminent threat of wildfire across state. Much of the state is in extreme fire danger, she said.
The state’s largest blaze is currently in Eastern Oregon. Dubbed the Indian Creek fire, it has scorched an estimated 20,300 acres (32 square miles) along U.S. 20 at Jonesboro since it began on Sunday, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. It’s burning important habitat for the sage grouse, whose numbers recently have been in decline.
The Crane fire also started Sunday near Lakeview and the Oregon and California border, burning through 2,330 acres (3.7 square miles) as of Thursday afternoon. It’s 10% contained.
On Thursday smoke from that blaze and others in Central Oregon prompted an air quality advisory for the Jefferson County, Warm Springs and Lakeview areas.
