By AccuWeather staff writer
Published Sep. 9, 2020 1:13 PM | Updated Sep. 10, 2020 9:30 PM
The scope of the unprecedented wildfire outbreak wreaking havoc across the Pacific Northwest became clearer on Wednesday as officials reported devastation to multiple communities in Oregon in addition to several fatalities. This damage in Oregon came as Washington officials got their first look at the vast swath of damage caused by a firestorm that ravaged 80 percent of one eastern Washington town on Labor Day.
The wildfires, fanned by powerful winds, continue to endanger cities and towns across the region and are turning skies eerily orange or dark red while leaving piles of charred destruction behind.
Forecasters warned that the Pacific Northwest remained particularly vulnerable to outbreaks of new blazes even with a change in the forecast taking place that would cause winds to lessen.
At least three fatalities have been reported in connection to the wildfires, according to The Associated Press. Two of the deaths occurred in Oregon, while the third was in Washington.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said everyone must be on high alert and said some communities were substantially damaged with hundreds of homes reportedly destroyed, The AP reported.
“This could be the greatest loss of human life and property due to wildfire in our state’s history,” she said.
On Tuesday night, mandatory evacuations were issued for parts of the southern Oregon city of Medford, which has a population of more than 80,000.
In addition to Medford, the fires were threatening the smaller nearby communities of Talent and Phoenix. Medford Mayor Gary Wheeler told Oregon Live that both Talent and Phoenix were "pretty well devastated."
"It looks like a lot of damage for those little towns,” Wheeler said.
The Oregon Department of Transportation said a stretch of Interstate 5 from just north of Medford to the city of Central Point, a distance of roughly 5 miles, remained closed on Wednesday due to wildfire dangers.
A fire burning near Carus, Oregon, located about 28 miles southeast of Portland, caused an explosion Tuesday night as residents fled the area. A driver fleeing the scene caught the dramatic moment when the explosion erupted on video. At least four fires are burning in Clackamas County, and a majority of the southern half of the county is under a mandatory evacuation order, KATU reported.
"We're in an unprecedented fire event," Brown said Tuesday on Twitter. "Several significant, growing fires across the state continue to spread due to hot, dry weather and high winds. Oregonians' lives are at risk. Follow evacuation orders, try to reduce your smoke exposure – and take care of each other."
Brown said she invoked the fire conflagration act for the entire state and warned that places that weren't currently burning were still at risk from some of the worst fire conditions Oregon has seen in 30 years. She also directed the state's Office of Emergency Management to request a federal emergency declaration which would free up resources for response efforts including power generation and search and rescue.
"Thanks to our heroic firefighters, National Guard members, and Red Cross volunteers working around the clock," Brown said on Twitter.
Thursday afternoon, the Oregon Office of Emergency Management estimated more than 500,000 people across the state -- about 10% of its population -- had been forced to evacuate due to the fires.
At least 37 fires were burning in Oregon as of Wednesday night, resulting in a total burnt acreage of more than 672,000.
Hazardous air quality was reported in numerous cities in western Oregon including in Roseburg and Corvallis. Smoke would remain a concern on Thursday, forecasters warned as winds become more westerly.
More than 70,000 customers were without power in the state on Thursday morning. The fires also triggered the evacuations of more than 1,000 prisoners from three prisons in Marion County, Oregon Live reported.
Washington town devastated by rapidly spreading 'firestorm'
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said on Tuesday that fires scorched a total of 330,000 acres in a 24-hour span, a number that is higher than what was burned in 12 of the 18 previous fire seasons in the state. Like Brown, he noted the unparalleled nature of the wildfire outbreak.
“It’s an unprecedented and heart-breaking event,″ Inslee said at a news conference, according to The AP. ”The list of fires is long.″
Inslee visited the site of the Sumner Grade Fire Wednesday, which destroyed four homes and forced around 1,000 people to evacuate. The fire is burning in Bonney Lake, located in Pierce County. Bonney Lake is nearly 40 miles south of Seattle.
On Wednesday, Washington Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz visited the small town of Malden, located in eastern Washington, after a fast-moving fire reportedly destroyed at least 80 percent of the town on Labor Day.
"I won't soon forget the devastation I witnessed in #Malden today," Franz wrote on Twitter. "Burned down homes, smoldering ashes, and burn scars on buildings — it was shocking. Through it all, I was amazed by the strength and resiliency of Mayor Christine Ferrell and the community."
"Wildfire isn't a distant threat. It's right here in our backyards. What I saw today strengthens my resolve: We need to come together and commit to critical investments in wildfire prevention so the tragedy the people of #Malden experienced doesn't happen again," she said.
Multiple fires had ripped through the area at great rates of speed in only a matter of hours, leading the sheriff's department to refer to it as a firestorm. In Malden, the post office, fire station, city hall and other prominent buildings completely burned to the ground.
“The scale of this disaster really can’t be expressed in words," Whitman County Sheriff Brett Myers said in a statement. "The fire will be extinguished but a community has been changed for a lifetime. I just hope we don’t find the fire took more than homes and buildings. I pray everyone got out in time.”
This satellite images shows the devastated town of Phoenix, Oregon, after the Alameda Fire burned through the town. (Satellite image ©2020 Maxar Technologies)
By Wednesday, the sheriff's office said crews had gained the upper hand on local fires and said residents in Malden and the neighboring town of Pine City were allowed back into town to assess damage to their homes and community.
Franz said on Tuesday that the state was battling nine large fires and was dealing with at least 58 new fire starts. Among the biggest in the state are the Evans Canyon Fire, which Franz called "relentless" and has burned nearly 76,000 acres, and the Whitney Fire, which has burned more than 102,000 acres. The Evans Canyon Fire is now 80% contained since it first started burning on Aug. 31, while the Whitney Fire was 5 percent contained as of Thursday morning.
This animation shows the western U.S. on Sept. 9, 2016, when very little wildfire smoke was present, and on Sept. 9, 2020, when a plethora of smoke covered the region. (Images/NASA Worldview)
The Washington Department of Ecology website showed much of the state was dealing with unhealthy air quality levels and officials recommended that residents limit time outdoors.
Short-term forecast offers change, but little relief
It's been a hellish wildfire season across the West, with a record-setting number of acres burned in California, in addition to the unusually active seasons in Oregon and Washington. Numerous large blazes have also scorched Colorado, Idaho, Montana and Utah. Red flag warnings this week stretched from the California-Mexico border to the Washington-Canada border.
The unusually strong wind event that permeated throughout the Northwest was a product of a vigorous storm system that also brought heavy snow to parts of the Rockies.
AccuWeather forecasters cautioned that despite a gradual easing in the winds that have buffeted the fires' rapid growth, conditions won't necessarily improve for firefighters working tirelessly to contain the blazes.
Air quality concerns have grown as the fires have spread. AccuWeather Meteorologist Brandon Buckingham cautioned that a rather stagnant air mass will likely keep areas of smoke in place across the Northwest, Great Basin, California and other areas across the West dealing with wildfire activity, resulting in continued poor air quality.
In terms of when beleaguered residents of the Pacific Northwest can expect some relief, AccuWeather meteorologists say a new area of low
pressure will approach the Pacific Northwest coast early next week. While this will cause winds to increase again, there is the possibility of a few showers in western Oregon and Washington Monday night into Tuesday.
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