4:40 p.m. Update: A second fire near Aerts Road and Highway 6 is believed by Portland General Electric to have been caused when power surged from from the pole being knocked over near Harrison Road, Banks Fire PIO Mitch Ward said in a message to the Banks Post.
A PGE investigation was under way, Ward said.
Banks Fire had put the second fire out, with crews from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and PGE on scene, he added.
4:37 p.m. Update: The Washington County Sheriff’s Office said Highway 26 had reopened.
4:25 p.m. Update: Banks Fire District Public Information officer said that the field fire near Harrison Road had burned along about one and a half linear acres along Highway 26 between Harrison Road and the Highway 6 junction.
The fire was out, he said, but a smoldering power pole remained.
“Highway 26 will be closed in both directions, East of NW Banks Road and West of Highway 6, while crews work to restore a downed powerline. A tractor hit a power pole, knocking it down and starting a fire,” the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said.
Assisting Banks Fire on the scene were fire crews from Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue out of North Plains and Forest Grove Fire & Rescue, with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Portland General Electric, and the Oregon Department of Transportation.
Original story below:
The Oregon Department of Transportation said a wildfire had resulted in the closure of Highway 26 at the Highway 6 junction north of Banks.
According to the agency’s tripcheck.com, all lanes were closed at the junction. The agency made the report at 3:43 p.m.
Banks Fire District Public Information Officer Mitch Ward said two fires were in the Banks area Thursday afternoon.
He listed one at the Aerts Road and and Wilson River Highway intersection, and another along Highway 26 where Harrison Road meets the highway.
The Harrison Road fire was caused when a farm vehicle made contact with a power line, bringing it and the attached power lines down, Ward said.
According to Portland General Electric, 227 customers in the Banks area were without power.
The region is under a Red Flag Warning due to fire danger.
This is a developing story; more information will be published as it becomes available.
Chas Hundley is the editor of the Banks Post and sister news publications the Gales Creek Journal and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.
