THE DALLES, Ore. — Alert around the clock, fire crews spent the last 48 hours fighting Oregon's largest wildfire so far this year — the Miller Road Fire near the town of Maupin in Wasco County.
In a Level 3 evacuation zone about three miles from where the fire actually began, fire crews were working Thursday to track down hot spots. While there wasn't much in the way of visible fire, officials said that the fire is still considered completely uncontained, since high winds could whip it back to life at any moment.
"This fire is far from being completely extinguished," said Larry Wooldridge with the Oregon State Fire Marshal's office.
On the fire line Thursday, crews worked to put out hot spots after a threatening scene of flames and smoke made its way across more than 10,000 acres of Wasco County earlier in the week.
"We had a couple of areas yesterday that took a run on us," Wooldridge said.
At Lee Liverman's house near Maupin, it's been an all-out fight to keep the flames away.
"I watched the actual fire and wind swoop right up over my head," said Liverman. "It was overwhelming, it was definitely overwhelming."
"We had to cut through our gate to let the fire department through to the other side so they could fight the fire over there and stop it from coming here," said Elizabeth Richley, who shares the home with Liverman.
Liverman and Richley said they won't leave their home, despite the evacuation orders in place for the area.
"My mom died in this house, so I really don't want to lose this property," said Richley.
"I said 'I'm sorry' I wanted to protect my animals — we decided that that was the best thing to do," said Liverman.
"They're my family," agreed Richley. "I have no kids, these are my children."
As of Thursday night the couple's home was still standing — but the threat isn't over.
"The fire can sit underneath some of the ground cover out here, and as the wind picks up and you get the right condition with a little bit of heat and that stuff will take off," said Wooldridge with OSFM.
While efforts to contain the Miller Road Fire were still going on Thursday, some of the fire crews were called to a second fire. This one rapidly started to spread within the city limits of The Dalles — billowing smoke across I-84 and threatening industrial buildings.
"It's a little too close for comfort," said Dominic Benson, an employee of Big Jim's in The Dalles.
The fire grew to cover about ten acres in the city, briefly causing evacuations before firefighters aggressively knocked it down.
"It's super close but there wasn't a lot of wind blowing in this direction so we didn't have to deal too much with smoke," said Benson.
For now both of these fires in Wasco County are under control — but for many, the fear of the past few days lingers on.
"This is one of the scariest things I've ever been through and I wouldn't wish it on anybody," said Richley.
The causes of both fires are still under investigation. For those living in the area, fire officials encourage people to keep an eye on evacuation levels, which can change rapidly.