Rapidly growing wildfires have prompted evacuations in Northern and Southern California, and powerful winds and lightning strikes are rattling eastern Oregon and Idaho, cutting power and stoking fires. Oregon has the largest active blaze in the U.S. Another fast-moving wildfire has forced thousands to abandon a town in Canada.
Authorities say a wildfire burning in Oregon that’s kicking smoke into neighboring Idaho and beyond is now the largest active blaze in the U.S.Authorities say a wildfire burning in Oregon that’s kicking smoke into neighboring Idaho and beyond is now the largest active blaze in the U.S.Authorities say a wildfire burning in Oregon that’s kicking smoke into neighboring Idaho and beyond is now the largest active blaze in the U.S.
“The wildfires in Eastern Oregon have scaled up quickly,” Kotek said in a news release Wednesday evening, calling it a dynamic situation. “We are facing strong erratic winds over the region that could impact all fires. Rain is not getting through. Some communities do not have power.” The fire approached Alison Oszman’s home in Rye Valley, a small ranching area north of Huntington, last week, but they were able to protect their property with the help of Bureau of Land Management firefighters and neighbors, using small tanker trucks and shovels. They used a small bulldozer to keep it away from the house, she said.
“It was pretty scary but everything seemed to fall into place,” she said. “Everybody helped everybody. It was actually pretty amazing for how crummy it really was.” The major electricity utility in the region, Idaho Power, warned customers to prepare for possible outages, and by late Wednesday afternoon, nearly 7,000 customers were without electricity, the utility said. The utility also cut power to customers in the Boise foothills and other nearby areas, citing extreme weather and wildfire risk.
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.”
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