Oregon fire is the largest in country. Officials warn an impending storm could exacerbate it

By LISA BAUMANN (Associated Press)
BELLINGHAM, Wash. July 24, 2024 7:51 a.m. Updated: July 24, 2024 5:19 p.m.

Firefighters in the West are scrambling as wildfires threaten communities in Oregon, California and Washington, with at least one Oregon fire so large that it is creating its own weather.

The Durkee Fire, burning near the Oregon-Idaho border, is now the largest active blaze in the U.S., authorities said. And fire crews are bracing for a storm late Wednesday that’s expected to bring lightning, strong winds and the risk of flash floods.

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Interstate 84 in Eastern Oregon was closed in both directions Tuesday between Ontario and Baker City as flames from the Durkee Fire advanced toward the roadway in multiple locations. The Oregon Department of Transportation also closed the eastbound lanes of I-84 from Pendleton to Baker City Tuesday and Wednesday, and warned that travelers should expect continued intermittent highway closures in Eastern Oregon as fire crews actively fight fire from the interstate.

Those who need to move east or west across central and eastern Oregon should consider using U.S. Highway 20. Updated traffic alerts are available at TripCheck.com.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Monday night authorized the use of federal funds to help with firefighting costs for the lightning-caused blaze that started July 17. It had scorched nearly 400 square miles as of Wednesday afternoon.

This image provided by the Oregon Department of Transportation shows an area burned by the Durkee Fire near Interstate 84 close to Huntington, Ore., Tuesday afternoon, July 23, 2024.

Courtesy Oregon Department of Transportation / AP

The Durkee Fire was threatening homes in and around the communities of Durkee, Huntington and Rye Valley, as well as the interstate, cell towers and power infrastructure in the area.

The town of Huntington, Oregon, home to about 500 people, remained evacuated for a third full day, and authorities issued warnings about the coming storm to those who have remained behind. The storm could bring wind gusts of up to 75 mph (121 kph), lightning and heavy rain that could cause flash flooding and debris flows in recently burned areas, the Baker County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.

The Oregon State Fire Marshal’s office also cautioned residents about the risk posed by the storm and the expected “abundant” lightning. The agency has mobilized nearly 500 firefighters to help protect communities that could be threatened by wildfires nearby.

The major electricity utility in the region, Idaho Power, warned customers to prepare for possible outages.

“Power outages and freeway closures are expected. In the event that the fire reaches the city of Huntington, there may be delays in assisting residents that have not previously evacuated,” the sheriff’s office said.

Fire crews and equipment from 22 states were battling the blaze, authorities said Tuesday.

Stephen Parker, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boise, Idaho, said the Durkee Fire showed such extreme fire behavior on Saturday, Sunday and Monday that it began creating its own weather system with a “pyrocumulus cloud.”

“That can happen when a fire becomes plume-dominated,” Parker said. “It’s like a thunderstorm on top of the fire, generated by the heat of the fire.”

In this image provided by the Oregon Department of Transportation, the Durkee Fire burns in the background as it nears Interstate 84 near Huntington, Ore., early Tuesday, July 23, 2024.

Courtesy Oregon Department of Transportation / AP

The pyrocumulus cloud allows the smoke and ash from the fire to travel much higher in the air than it would typically go, he said. If there is enough moisture in the air above the fire, the pyrocumulus cloud can also generate rain and lightning, potentially causing new fire starts in the region.

There were lightning strikes in the region on Monday night, but there were also other thunderstorms in the area, making it impossible to tell which weather system was responsible for the storm, Parker said.

Tuesday morning was free of pyrocumulus clouds, Parker said, but they tend to form later in the day.

“I don’t see any pyrocumulus developing yet today. But I would not be surprised if we got a fourth day out of it,” he said.

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Several new fires ignited in that area Monday because of severe weather that included lightning and strong wind gusts, the Baker County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.

“Within minutes of the first lightning strikes, reports then came in of visible flames,” the post read.

In this image provided by the Oregon Department of Transportation, the Durkee Fire burns in the background as it nears Interstate 84 near Huntington, Ore., early Sunday, July 21, 2024.

Courtesy Oregon Department of Transportation / AP

More than 60 significant fires were burning Wednesday in Oregon and Washington alone. Already, the smoke from the Durkee Fire in Oregon was choking the air in Boise and beyond. An air quality warning was in effect for the entire region on Wednesday.

Patrick Nauman, the owner of Weiser Classic Candy in the small town of Weiser, Idaho, near the Oregon border, said driving into town Wednesday morning was “like driving into a fog bank, because it’s so thick and low to the road.”

Nauman’s shop is on the main intersection in town and is typically a popular spot to stop for lunch or a sugar fix, but customer traffic has dropped by half in the past few days as thick smoke and triple-digit temperatures dogged the region.

“Yesterday you could smell it, taste it, it just kind of hung in the back of your throat,” Nauman said of the smoke.

Parts of the West have also been in the grip of a heat wave, including record-breaking triple-digits temperatures, for days.

A fire in the Columbia River Gorge that started late Monday forced urgent evacuations around the town of Mosier, Oregon, and the entire town of about 400 people was ordered to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice on Tuesday.

Active wildfires in Oregon as of Wednesday afternoon.

Winston Szeto / OPB

In central Washington, a fire that sparked Monday near Naches prompted mandatory evacuations while another near Bickelton also forced evacuations and threatened a natural gas plant. A fire that started Tuesday closed a section of U.S. 12 in both directions over White Pass.

“This is shaping up to be another monster fire year in the Pacific Northwest, and it’s just mid-July,” Ed Hiatt, Pacific Northwest assistant fire director for operations at the U.S. Forest Service, said Tuesday in a news release.

Related: Oregon is seeing an ‘aggressive start’ to its wildfire season. Many have been human-caused

Millions of acres of national forest lands across Oregon and Washington are continuing to see record-breaking dry timber conditions on both sides of the Cascade Mountains with no “wetting” rains for more than six weeks in areas from far southern Oregon to the eastern part of the state and north into central Washington, according to the news release.

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek earlier this month declared an “extended state of emergency” until October because of the increased risk of wildfires.

“I urge all Oregonians to follow the instructions and evacuation levels issued by emergency officials,” she said at the time, while also urging people to subscribe to emergency alerts, to have an evacuation plan, prepare a go-kit, and stay aware of changing conditions.

Near the California-Nevada border, a series of lightning-sparked wildfires in the Sierra forced the evacuation of a recreation area, closed a state highway and was threatening structures Tuesday in several communities southwest of Portola, which is about 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Reno.

Nearly 200 children and staff at a summer camp near Portola voluntarily evacuated on buses back to their homes Sunday night in the Reno-Sparks area.

Heat waves and historic drought tied to climate change have made wildfires more challenging to fight in the American West. Scientists have said climate change has made the region much warmer and drier in the past 30 years and will continue to make the weather more extreme, and wildfires more frequent and destructive.

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Associated Press writers Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho, and Scott Sonner in Reno, Nevada, contributed to this story.

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