A partial list from the Oregon Department of Forestry shows it has collected $86,000 of $24 million it paid to fight several dozen wildfires that were maliciously or negligently ignited over the last two decades.
A brush fire burning near Shearer Hill Road near the Hillside community has sent a column of smoke into the sky visible as far away as Buxton (Updates to this story will be published only to our sister site, the Gales Creek Journal).
The Oregon Department of Transportation said a wildfire had resulted in the closure of Highway 26 at the Highway 6 junction north of Banks. It's believed two fires were sparked in the area from downed power lines and a farm vehicle mishap.
With temperatures expected to soar into the triple digits Thursday and a Red Flag Warning starting 9 a.m., local fire officials are urging the public to use caution and avoid anything that could spark a fire.
Fire crews with Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue, Banks Fire District 13, and Hillsboro Fire & Rescue extinguished a vegetation fire burning in a cut wheat field Tuesday afternoon north of Mountaindale, TVF&R said in a social media post.
Ninety-one years ago to the day, a logging crew at the end of a railroad spur in the upper reaches of the Gales Creek Watershed sparked a wildfire. That spark became the Tillamook Burn.
The Oregon Department of Forestry said the Lee Falls Fire was 100% lined Friday night, keeping the fire at 280 acres. "With control lines established around the fire, and many areas plumbed with fire hose, the arduous process of mop up begins," the Oregon Department of Forestry said.
The Lee Falls Fire, threatening homes in Cherry Grove, is now estimated at up to 250 acres, the Oregon Department of Forestry said, while Gaston Rural Fire District estimated it at 200 acres in a late night update Thursday.
