Pacific Northwest faces critical fire risk as wildfires burn
A dangerous heat wave, gusty winds and potential lightning strikes posed a critical fire risk for large parts of the Pacific Northwest on Sunday, as firefighters in Oregon and Washington state battled wildfires that have burned more than 621,000 acres.
About 547,000 people in Oregon and Washington on Sunday were under red flag warnings, the highest National Weather Service alert for conditions that may result in extreme fire behavior.
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The warnings are issued when high temperatures, very low humidity and strong winds combine to produce a heightened risk.
Thunderstorms were also moving across the region on Sunday, including over central and southeast Oregon and southern Washington, where “abundant lightning” was expected in the afternoon and evening.
The lightning and dry conditions could result in “numerous fire starts,” and winds from the storms could cause “erratic fire spread,” the weather service said.
John Hendricks, a spokesperson for the Oregon State Fire Marshal, said Sunday that the lightning forecast for the next 24 to 36 hours was “extremely concerning” after weeks of dry, hot weather in the state.
“It’s not taking much for a spark to ignite a fire,” Hendricks said.
There was a heat wave in early July and temperatures have been high and conditions dry, with no significant rain in the weeks since, Hendricks said.
“Our firefighters are working extremely hard to protect communities that are threatened by wildfires,” Hendricks said. “And we’re asking Oregonians to help us out by doing everything that they can to avoid sparking a human-caused fire.”
He said that fires could be sparked by things like debris piles that had been burning weeks earlier but were never fully extinguished, cars parked on dry grass, and farm equipment being used during harvest.
There were 22 fires burning in Oregon and six in Washington on Sunday, according to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center, which coordinates fire response for the states. The fires covered more than 621,000 acres, the agency said.
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