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PORTLAND, Ore. The threat of thunderstorms and lightning has prompted officials in fire-ravaged Oregon to ask for help from outside the Pacific Northwest to prepare for additional blazes as many resources are already devoted to a massive forest fire.
The 569-square-mile Bootleg Fire is burning 300 miles southeast of Portland in and around the Fremont-Winema National Forest, a vast expanse of old-growth forest, lakes and wildlife refuges. Evacuations and property losses have been minimal compared with much smaller blazes in densely populated areas of California.
But eyeing how the Bootleg Fire fueled by extreme weather keeps growing by miles each day, officials with the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest in southwest Oregon are asking for more outside crews to be ready should there be a surge in fire activity there.
Crews head out to engage the Bootleg Fire.
“Last year’s historic fire season taught us that being prepared can truly be the difference between life and death. Being prepared is also one of the best ways you can help our frontline firefighters do their jobs,” Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said Tuesday. “If you take anything away from today, let it be this: make a plan with your family.and when you’re asked to evacuate. Please, just do it. Listen to the experts.”
In a press conference Tuesday, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown offered an update on efforts to fight several large wildfires burning across the state, including the Bootleg Fire in Klamath and Lake counties, which has now grown to nearly 400,000 acres and constitutes the nation’s largest conflagration.
GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
Oregon is experiencing August-like fire danger conditions in mid-July, creating the likelihood of a historic fire season for the second year in a row.
Nearly 500,000 acres have burned from nearly 1,000 fires this year, said Doug Grafe, chief of fire protection for the Oregon Department of Forestry during a Tuesday press call on current fire conditions.
Most fires are caught at under 10 acres, but each has the potential to become a major blaze, fire officials said.
Gov. Kate Brown and state fire response officials warned that conditions were extreme for fire danger that would last for at least three more months. Oregon residents in nearly every point in the state needed to prepare now for how to handle a wildfire emergency, they said.
U.S. Forest Service via Inciweb
Originally published on July 20, 2021 1:47 pm
In a press conference Tuesday, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown offered an update on efforts to fight several large wildfires burning across the state, including the Bootleg Fire in Klamath and Lake counties, which has now grown to nearly 400,000 acres and constitutes the nation’s largest conflagration.
“It’s mid July, and already nearly 450,000 acres have burned across the state. We currently have nine large fires burning in Oregon, including the country’s largest with the Bootleg Fire right now, the fourth largest fire to burn in Oregon since 1900, Brown said.