There are currently over 20 wildfires burning in Oregon right now. One of the newest, most dangerous, and fastest moving fire started this past Sunday, by an idiot teenager with fireworks. It’s called the Eagle Creek Fire and is burning out in the very scenic Columbia River Gorge. For those of you unfamiliar with that area, there are many scenic waterfalls there, along with hundreds of miles of popular hiking trails, including part of the PCT. In fact, 153 hikers were cut off by this fire and had to be rescued, and led out over a detour of over 14 miles.
The Gorge is also famous for its strong winds, which are helping to fuel this fire and push it west. It has spread 12 MILES overnight and is ZERO PERCENT contained. Many small towns have been forced evacuated, and the fire is expected to reach the eastern-most suburbs of Portland soon. Embers have even started jumping across the Columbia River and started small flare ups on the Washington side of the river. This is absolutely devastating.
As you can imagine, the sky is choked with heavy smoke everywhere, and there is ash falling out of the sky and covering homes and cars as far away as my house (40 miles away)!
It’s been extremely hot and dry here for months, so the forest all around is a tinderbox waiting to explode. And thanks to one moron, it has.
Google Eagle Creek Fire is you want more info or to see other photos. Found this 30-second time lapse video that shows you just how quickly this fire erupted over a 12-hour period: