Powerful winds and hundreds of lightning strikes from thunderstorms shook eastern Oregon and Idaho on Wednesday afternoon, cutting power and starting fires. One fire in Oregon has become the largest active blaze in the country.
The Durkee Fire, burning near the Oregon-Idaho border about 130 miles west of Boise, Idaho, led to the closure of a part of Interstate 84 again on Wednesday. The fire crossed the interstate near Huntington, a small town with about 500 people, and merged with another large fire, the Cow Valley Fire, according to Governor Tina Kotek.
“The wildfires in Eastern Oregon have grown quickly,” Kotek said in a news release on Wednesday evening. She mentioned that strong, unpredictable winds could affect all fires and that rain was not reaching the ground. Some communities were without power.
Kotek has sent the National Guard to help in the region.
The nearly 420-square-mile blaze prompted the evacuation of Huntington on Sunday. On Wednesday, city officials posted on Facebook that people remaining in town, especially those with health issues, should leave because of wildfire smoke and the lack of power. Gas service to residents was also shut off until evacuation orders are lifted.
Alison Oszman’s home in Rye Valley, a small ranching area north of Huntington, was threatened by the fire last week. With help from Bureau of Land Management firefighters and neighbors, they protected their property using small tanker trucks, shovels, and a small dozer. Her neighbor moved his horses and cattle to Oszman’s property as the fire approached his ranch.
On Wednesday night, Oszman checked her neighbor’s property and found the fire had come down a steep hillside and threatened his home. She parked her truck in a field in case the big trees by his house caught fire, making sure sparks didn’t land in the dry grass. As the fire passed his house, it started raining, helping firefighters control the blaze.
“It was pretty scary, but everything seemed to fall into place,” Oszman said. “Everybody helped everybody. It was amazing, considering how bad it was.” The National Weather Service in Boise said the storms could produce wind gusts up to 70 mph, reducing visibility with blowing dust. A storm near Baker City recorded a wind gust of 66 mph.
Heavy rain from the storm could cause flash flooding and debris flows in recently burned areas. Flash flood warnings were issued for Huntington and a nearby burn scar area.
A flash flood warning was issued for the Cow Valley burn scar at about 8 p.m. Wednesday and was expected to last until 10:30 p.m., said Les Colin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boise. A strong thunderstorm moved into a burned area that is especially prone to flooding. No homes are in the area, but Interstate 84 runs close by. On Wednesday, the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s office mobilized nearly 500 firefighters to protect communities that wildfires could threaten.
Idaho Power, the main electricity utility in the region, warned customers to prepare for possible outages. By late Wednesday afternoon, nearly 7,000 customers were without electricity. The utility also cut power to customers in the Boise foothills and other nearby areas due to extreme weather and wildfire risk.
More than 60 significant fires are burning in Oregon and Washington alone. In recent days, Oregon has experienced hundreds of lightning strikes from thunderstorms, starting new fires in very dry vegetation.
In southern California, another fast-moving fire was threatening homes. Evacuation orders were in effect Wednesday night in San Diego County after a wildfire began spreading near the San Diego and Riverside county lines. The Grove Fire spread southeast through steep terrain, growing to 1.3 square miles within a few hours but was 5% contained by 8 p.m., according to Cal Fire.
Smoke from the Durkee Fire in Oregon choked the air in Boise and beyond on Wednesday. An air quality warning was in effect for the entire region. Patrick Nauman, the owner of Weiser Classic Candy in Weiser, Idaho, near the Oregon border, said driving into town on Wednesday morning was “like driving into a fog bank because it’s so thick and low to the road.”
Nauman’s shop, usually busy with customers stopping for lunch or a sugar fix, saw a half-day drop in traffic due to thick smoke and triple-digit temperatures.
“Yesterday you could smell it, taste it, it just kind of hung in the back of your throat,” Nauman said of the smoke.
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Mike Cantin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boise, said cooler air moving into the region on Wednesday evening could stoke the Durkee and other fires. A red flag warning was in effect, and the area has been experiencing a heat wave, with many days over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. “With these winds today, every little spark could get out of hand very easily. It could be a very dangerous situation quickly,” Cantin said. “Don’t light anything on fire, and be very careful around dry grass.”
