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Engulfed in flames: What we know about wildfires burning the Northwest

More than two dozen wildfires are burning hundreds of thousands of acres across Oregon and Washington.

Sara Roth

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Published: 8:41 AM PDT September 7, 2017
Updated: 1:27 PM PST January 19, 2018

Published Sept. 5, 2017. For the latest fire sizes, containment and evacuations, click here.

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Although September has rolled into the Northwest, fall weather feels far away as wildfires rage across the region, threatening homes, closing roads and torching iconic natural areas from southern Oregon to northern Washington.

Firefighters from federal, state and local agencies are pushing back against flames with little help from mother nature. Temperatures remain sweltering after a historically hot and nearly rainless summer. A hint of rain in the forecast could dampen flames but brings added threats of lightning storms.

Meanwhile, residents from southern Oregon to the Seattle area watch as the sky fills with acrid smoke. Ash falls like snow, dusting cars and roads with remnants of the hundreds of thousands of acres of forest land that has burned so far with no end in sight.

This is what we know about what’s burning, what’s threatened, what caused the fires and when we might get some relief.

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