PORTLAND, Ore. — Oregon's wildfire season has taken off over the past couple of weeks amid hot and dry conditions, with multiple large fires now burning central and eastern Oregon and drawing in resources from across the state.
For nearly a week now, a crew of six firefighters from Portland Fire & Rescue have been in eastern Oregon to help fight the Lone Rock Fire in rural Gilliam County. They're part of a 12-member Multnomah County Task Force, which includes two other members from Corbett, two from Sauvie Island Fire and two from Gresham.
Lieutenant Damon Simmons with PF&R said his crew is doing anything and everything to protect the nearby community of Lone Rock, much of which has been under a Level 3 "Go Now" evacuation order for days.
“Our role is protecting in and around structures, so we’re looking at ways to stop that fire before it burns people’s homes and people’s livelihood,” said Simmons.
But a lot of nearby residents aren't just worried about their homes, he added.
“In a lot of cases, it’s more important to protect people’s fields, and it’s the food crops and things like that," he said.
The fire broke out Saturday and spread rapidly, and conditions haven’t gotten any better over the past couple of days, Simmons said, due to uncooperative weather patterns.
Strong storms brought high winds and dry lighting Tuesday night, the forecast called for more of the same today. Most parts of the state have seen hot temperatures and little or no rainfall for weeks, creating dry conditions where it doesn't much for fires to start and spread.
The Lone Rock Fire is only 10% contained, and crews are still trying to determine how the fire started. As of Wednesday afternoon, the fire has grown to nearly 70,000 acres.