Today there are 71 large uncontained wildfires in the United States.
Continue readingWildfires persist in the Cascades and Northern Rockies
Clouds and high humidity affect Eagle Creek fire in Columbia River Gorge
Mapping flights the last two days were cancelled due to low clouds.
Continue readingSatellite detects heat from wildfires, September 7
(Originally published at 6:36 p.m. MDT September 7, 2017.)
These maps show heat that was detected by a satellite on wildfires in the northwestern United States during the 24-hour period ending at 6 p.m. Thursday September 7, 2017. We did not include heat from the 6 days previous to the last 24 hours.
If there was heat found, it means the fires are still active, however some of it could be from proactive burning by firefighters to secure the area between firelines and the edge of the fires.
Eagle Creek Fire in Columbia River Gorge slows, but still adds over 2,000 acres
The fire has burned 33,382 acres, which includes a 209-acre spot fire across the Columbia River in Washington.
Continue readingEagle Creek fire burns structures and forces evacuations along the Columbia River Gorge
Above: 3-D map of the Eagle Creek Fire looking southeast, showing the perimeter at 7:30 p.m. PDT September 5, 2017.
(Originally published at 12:22 p.m. PDT, September 6, 2017)
The Eagle Creek Fire that has been burning since September 2 along the Columbia River Gorge just west of Cascade Locks on the Washington/Oregon border has merged with the nearby Indian Creek Fire, which together have blackened 30,929 acres. The blaze is about 10 miles east of the Portland suburbs.
Most of the fire is on the south side of the river in Oregon, but it has jumped across the river into Washington near Archer Mountain.
Six structures have burned and there is a report that at least one of them is a residence, with the others being outbuildings.
Several communities are under evacuation orders and a shelter has been established at Mt. Hood Community College, at 3691 NE 17th Drive, Gresham, OR. For information regarding evacuations in Skamania County, contact the Skamania County Emergency Operations Center at 509-427-8076.
Firefighters will be conducting burnout operations on September 6th from Bridge of the Gods to Bonneville Dam. There will be large plumes of smoke visible during the day.
Willamette Week reported that a Portland resident saw a teenage boy using fireworks that may have started the fire. On September 5 the Oregon State Police announced that a 15-year old boy from Vancouver, Washington is a suspect.
Maps of wildfires in the Northwest U.S.
More than 27,000 firefighters are deployed on wildfires in the United States.
Continue readingSatellite photo, wildfires in the Northwest
The satellite photo shows smoke from vegetation fires in the northwestern United States on August 31, 2017. The red dots represent heat detected by a satellite at 4:18 a.m. MDT September 1, 2017.
Satellite photo, wildfires in the Northwest U.S.
Click on the photo a couple of times to see a larger version.
Continue readingUpdate on Chetco Bar Fire and other wildfires in the Northwest
Above: Satellite photo from August 27, 2017 showing smoke created by fires in the Northwestern United States, including Chetco Bar, Liberty, Rice Ridge, and Jolly Mountain Fires. The red dots on the map represent heat detected by the satellite on August 28.
(Originally published at 9:55 a.m. MDT August 28, 2017)
The Chetco Bar Fire in Southwest Oregon has not been growing as quickly in recent days as it did earlier when it quadrupled in size over four days and crossed the 100,000-acre threshold. The most recent mapping puts it at almost 108,000 acres. The area is under a Red Flag Warning on through Tuesday for gusty southwest winds and low humidities which could result in increased burning intensity and rapid fire growth.
The 4,400-acre Jolly Mountain Fire in Central Washington is near a Red Flag Warning area. Fire officials’ expectations for Monday:
Southern and western flanks of the fire will become active with uphill crown runs both on the east and west sides of West Fork drainage. SE flank will continue to back downslope. Fire will become increasingly active as it spreads to the south, where it loses its downslope effect and in more exposed to general winds. Fire likely to cross Sasse Ridge to the west.
The 12,800-acre Liberty Fire has been burning northeast of Missoula, Montana since July 15 while the Rice Ridge Fire, not far away, has spread over 27,800 acres since it started two weeks later. Hot, dry weather on Monday could cause both blazes to become more active.
Wildfire activity continues in northwest California and southwest Oregon
Oregon’s Chetco Bar Fire has exceeded 100,000 acres
Continue reading