Wildfires rage in California, Oregon and Washington

There are 48 active wildfires in Oregon that have consumed more than 470,000 acres so far, according to the state’s office of emergency management.

The Beach Creek Fire, which started on Aug. 16, is the largest in the state, with 132,450 acres burned, according to the agency.

Customers across the West Coast remain in the dark this evening as fire officials continue to battle unprecedented wildfires.

Outages are being reported in California, Oregon and Washington.

According to PowerOutage.US, more than 140,000 are without power. 

California has the most outages, followed by Oregon and the state of Washington. 

Smoke from the Lionshead Fire and Beachie Creek Fire create an orange glow as an "extremely critical" fire warning is issued on Monday, September 7, in Oregon.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said that “more than 300,000 acres are burning across the state,” at a press conference today. 

That area would be the equivalent of over 450 square miles.

“In some parts of the state that are not yet burning, the worst fire conditions in three decades persist,” Brown added.

The conditions include dry air, dry brush, and hot winds, Brown explained. 

Brown said that she has directed the Office of Emergency Management to request a federal emergency declaration. It is also the first time the governor has invoked the Fire Compensation Act for the entire state, Brown said.

“This act gives the state fire marshal the power to direct and deploy state resources anywhere where they are needed,” Brown explained.

The number of wildfires in the western United States continues to increase daily. 

Yesterday, the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) reported 87 large fires were burning across the country. Today that number has increased to 96.

These fires have now scorched 3,466,194 acres, the NIFC said.

Multiple wildfires have been burning across the state of California, and in some areas, the blazes have produced eerie orange skies.

Here’s what it looked like at Bidwell Bar Bridge in Lake Oroville, where the Bear Fire is burning, earlier today:

In San Francisco, smoke mixed with the marine layer, blanketing the city’s skyline in darkness and an orange glow. It’s seen here from Treasure Island today:

And cars drive in Concord, California, drove below an orange sky filled with wildfire smoke:

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said that her state is experiencing “unprecedented fire with significant damage and devastating consequences across the entire state” at a news conference today.

The governor said that hundreds of hundreds of homes have been lost. State officials are continuing to carry out mass evacuations across the entire state, she said.

“Early reports indicate that the towns of Detroit in central Oregon, Blue River and Vida in Lane County, and Phoenix and Talent in Southern Oregon, are substantially destroyed,” Brown said. 

The governor said weather conditions are making the situation worse as crews fight the fires.

”Winds continue to feed these fires and push them into our towns and cities,” she said.

As wildfires burn up and down the US West Coast, the National Weather Service in Sacramento is warning residents of the health hazards smoke can cause.

Here’s why wildfire smoke can make you sick: Wildfire smoke includes particles from burning vegetation and building materials mixed with gases. If your eyes feel like they’re stinging, smoke exposure could also be inflicting other damage. Particles could be getting into your respiratory system. 

Exposure can cause chest pain, a fast heartbeat or wheezing or bring on an asthma attack. Besides coughing and trouble breathing, many people experience symptoms similar to a sinus infection, such as headaches, sore throat, a runny nose and even tiredness, according to the CDC. 

Wildfire smoke can be especially harmful to the elderly, pregnant women, children and those with chronic heart and lung diseases. Because children breathe more air per pound of body weight than adults and their airways are still developing, they may experience more severe symptoms. 

Those with asthma or lung disease should consult their doctors about navigating situations like this. Some people may even experience illnesses like bronchitis due to the fine particles, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Flames from the Creek Fire are seen along a road just outside of Shaver Lake, California, in the Sierra National Forest on September 7.

All 18 national forests in California have now been ordered to close due to the “explosive growth” of ongoing wildfires, according to a notice from the Forest Service.

The temporary closures encompass over 20 million acres of forest land across the state.

Eight national forests were ordered to close on Monday in Southern and Central California. Today, the remaining 10 forests will be closed to the public starting at 5 p.m. 

The additional closures include the Tahoe National Forest and Tahoe Basin Management Unit, as well as the Eldorado, Lassen, Klamath, Mendocino, Modoc, Six Rivers, Plumas, and Shasta-Trinity National forests.

Part of the Northern California town of Paradise — the site of 2018’s deadly Camp Fire— is under an evacuation warning due to yet another fire in the Golden State.

The massive North Complex Fire is prompting the town to issue a warning for zone 14, east of Pentz Road, according to a post on the Butte County Sheriff’s Facebook page.

Warnings have also been issued for the Concow area.

Clackamas County in Oregon has issued 35 evacuation orders since Tuesday, Nancy Bush, the director of the country’s disaster management department, said at a news conference today.

The county, which contains several Portland suburbs and is just to the southeast of the city, has been battling several wildfires this week and declared a state of emergency yesterday.

“We have issued 35 evacuation orders and we have reached over 16,000 contacts because of evacuation orders,” Bush said at the news conference provided to CNN by affiliate KPTV.

However, Bush did caution that the evacuation system has a potential to contact people more than once.

The El Dorado Fire burns a hillside near Yucaipa in the San Bernardino National Forest, California, on September 7.

Fire crews in Southern California are making slow but steady progress on a wildfire sparked by a pyrotechnic device at a gender reveal party.

Containment of the El Dorado Fire near Yucaipa has grown to 20%, while the area burned grew just slightly over the last day to 11,479 acres.

Residents under evacuation orders and warnings are being cautioned that vegetation is very dry and winds could change at any time. Officials are pleading with them to be patient and vigilant. The area remains under a Red Flag Warning, as weather is prime for wild land to burn.

Damage assessment continues and teams are working to determine the number of buildings destroyed and damaged.

Ten planes and helicopters are dropping water and fire retardant from the air and more than 150 crews are working to extinguish the wildfire on the ground. In all, nearly 1,000 fire personnel are assigned to this blaze alone.

Firefighters watch the Bear Fire approach in Oroville, California, on September 9.

Fires in California have scorched more than 2.5 million acres and firefighters continue to battle 28 major fires in the Golden State.

“Yesterday and overnight, wind conditions allowed many fires to grow significantly with extreme fire behavior. While containment on many of last month’s lightning fires grows closer, several new wildfires ignited and were fanned by strong gusty winds,” the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said in a news release Wednesday.

Here’s the latest on the fires burning in California: 

The Bidwell Bar Bridge is surrounded by fire during the Bear fire in Oroville, California on September 9.

The North Complex Fire, burning in Northern California’s Plumas National Forest, has prompted an evacuation warning for the nearby Oroville, a city of nearly 20,000. 

The fire has consumed 150,140 acres and includes the Bear, Claremont, and Sheep Fires, which merged into this conflagration.

According to the Plumas National Forest, the complex consists of numerous fires that were ignited during a lightning storm that moved over the area on Aug. 17. The complex spans Plumas, Butte, and Yuba Counties and is 38% contained.

Various areas near the fire are under mandatory evacuations. 

Cal Fire said the Bear Fire, part of the complex, “spread rapidly yesterday due to Red Flag conditions and moved towards multiple communities,” near Oroville, forcing evacuations.

The city of Oroville sits in in the Sierra Nevada foothills and considers itself the gateway to Lake Oroville and Feather River recreational areas. It is 65 miles north of Sacramento and about 2.5 hours from the San Francisco Bay Area. 

Almost the entire Pacific Coastline of the continental United States was covered with wildfire smoke on Tuesday, as was seen from satellite images from NASA’s MODIS satellite. 

Smoke from dozens of wildfires in California, Oregon and Washington can be seen streaming towards the west, as a powerful weather system that brought winter-like weather to the Intermountain West carried dry, desert air into the Pacific Coast states. 

Satellite image of the fires taken on September 8th, 2020.

Hazardous air quality was being reported all along the West Coast, with AQI values of PM2.5 pollution well above the hazardous level of 300. These values constitute the worst air quality readings anywhere in the country, according to monitoring services such as Purple Air and AQICN. 

These conditions are expected to continue on Wednesday. 

Airnow’s forecast shows air quality in the fires’ regions to range anywhere from moderate to the highest level, hazardous. through the day today. 

Some areas may have better air quality in the morning, said the National Weather Service in Sacramento. But by the afternoon, the smoke plume model showed an increase throughout the afternoon. 

They also remind people that if you smell smoke, you are breathing smoke. 

You can check the current air quality in your location here

Flames surround a segment of Lake Oroville as fire continues to spread at the Bear fire in Oroville, California on September 9.

Dangerous and critical fire weather conditions continue across California.

“Winds will generally decrease later this morning for the mountains and foothills,” the National Weather Service in Sacramento says.

But in and around LA, the Santa Ana Winds are just kicking into gear.

Gusty Santa Ana winds will affect much of Ventura and Los Angeles counties through this afternoon, with gusts up to 60 mph.

“The combination of gusty winds and dry conditions will create critical fire danger in these areas,” says the National Weather Service in Los Angles.

After this historic heat wave, fuels will be at critical levels as we enter into the Santa Ana wind event, sparking concern for fire danger today.

Temperatures will continue to be above normal across much of California this week.

By this weekend, afternoon highs will lower to near normal through early next week, but dry weather is expected to continue.

You can check the local forecast here

While winds will slowly diminish through the day today in Oregon, it’s going to be hot and very dry for the next few days.

Today looks more like a “normal” offshore flow event wind-wise than the extreme conditions yesterday, says the National Weather Service in Portland. Even though these winds will be lighter, they will still be a factor as teams continue to fight these fires.

However, warm to hot and very dry weather, along with very high fire danger, will persist for the next few days. 

Conditions are favorable for rapid fire spread, which may threaten life and property, according to the NWS in Portland.  

Red-flag warnings have been issued through this evening and are likely to be continued through Thursday.

“The next chance of rain looks to be early next week,” the NWS in Portland said. 

The good news is the winds may shift to onshore this weekend, allowing for more humid conditions and reducing fire weather conditions.

You can check the local forecast here

The Creek Fire raging in the mountains of Central California has destroyed at least 365 structures, according to the CALFIRE incident update report this morning.

The fire, which erupted Friday evening, is still 0% contained. It has now burned more than 163,000 acres.

Here’s a look at the full 11 a.m. ET report:

Officials in Clackamus County, Oregon, are urging residents to be ready to evacuate as fire crews batter at least 10 wildfires across the county, according to Fred Charlton, fire chief for District 1 in the county. 

At least four major wildfires prompted thousands to evacuate on Tuesday. Those wildfires are the Dowdy Fire, the Riverside Fire, the Unger Fire and the Wilhoit Fire. Charlton said currently the Dowdy fire is taking up most of their resources. 

Charlton said there are reports of structures lost, but it is unclear at this time how many or the severity of the damage. 

Nancy Bush, the director of emergency management for Clackamus County, said more than a dozen evacuation orders were issued on Tuesday alone. Bush said more than 2,000 homes were currently evacuated. 

San Miguel County Firefighters battle a brush fire during the Valley Fire in Jamul, California, on September 6.

Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, said that while the West Coast wildfire’s impacts may be “shocking,” the fires are “not scientifically surprising.” 

Swain said the wind event we are seeing right now is an early season version of the Santa Ana winds, which is bad timing considering the extreme heat wave that has gripped the state.

“Unfortunately, these kinds of wind events are the kinds of events we would expect to see for the next few months,” Swain said. “I’m worried about the next few hours, the next few days, the next few months — it’s just not a good situation.” 

Swain explained that due to human-caused climate change, temperature extremes are climbing higher and the vegetation is drier, which having an effect on fire behavior. 

So when will it get better? Swain does not see the conditions improving any time soon for California and other Western states.

“Until widespread precipitation falls on the West Coast — of which there’s currently no sign at all and in a typical year, wouldn’t be expected for another 1-2 months — conditions are going to continue to be really extreme. I don’t see much of a let up,” he said. 

Critical fire weather conditions will continue through Thursday across Western Washington, the National Weather Service in Seattle said.

“As the last 24 hours have shown, fires will spread quickly,” the weather office in Seattle tweeted. 

Record high temperatures are possible today and tomorrow.

Seattle has averaged a temperature of 70° since the beginning of September, making it the second-warmest first eight days of September in 76 years of records at Sea-Tac airport. 

These high temperatures are one of the reasons critical fire weather concerns continue even with lighter winds. This and dry air are the reason the office has issued red-flag warnings across the region.

“Significant growth on existing fires takes place under such conditions,” the NWS warned. 

By Friday, some onshore flow should help cool down the region, reducing the fire threat.  

You can check the local forecast here