New wildfires ignited in the Cascade Mountains over the weekend and fires near Mount Hood, Klamath Falls and Burns continued to grow as Oregon built on its record-setting number of acres burned.
A cluster of fires ignited in the Clackamas River area outside Estacada on Aug. 8 and 9, bringing public lands closures, while quick work from fire teams appears to have halted a fire north of Waldo Lake.
The state's most active fires, the Grasshopper (near Mount Hood) and Wrights Spring Fire (near Klamath Falls), chewed up forest while the Big Grass Fire surpassed a half million acres on the Oregon-Idaho state line.
Overall, Oregon has burned 2.3 million acres as of Aug. 10, the most ever recorded in the modern era of record keeping.
As the weather moderates, this coming week should be less active for wildfires.
Here's notes and updates on wildfires around the state.
Three fires ignited in the Clackamas River area outside Estacada, bringing a handful of road and recreation site closures.
The Austin Fire is the largest of the group at 250 acres, although it's likely larger, burning in the slopes above Forest Road 46 and within the burn scar of the Riverside Fire. A helicopter was dropping water on the blaze as of Aug. 10. Forest Road 46 was closed between USFS roads 63 and 4660, impacting access on the boundary of the Hood and Willamette national forests.
The Mitchell Fire was estimated at 10 to 15 acres near Shellrock Lake. A helicopter dipped from Hideaway Lake and dropped water on the fire Aug. 9. In addition, a group of smokejumpers jumped into the area and hiked into wilderness to begin fireline assessment and construction, officials said.
Due to the fire, Hideaway Lake and Shellrock campgrounds are closed. Lake Harriet Campground remains open.
The Narrows Fire was estimated at 5 acres and burning in a "steep area full of hazardous snags, making it extremely difficult for ground resources to reach," fire officials said. "However, it is currently threatening very little. Helicopters continue to keep it in check with water bucket drops."
Air quality improved dramatically over the weekend in western Oregon as winds from the Pacific pushed smoke to the east. That trend is expected to stay in place across much of the week.
Air quality remained degraded in some areas east of the Cascades.
All recreation sites that were closed by the Akawa Butte Fire outside Sisters have been lifted and only a small public lands closure remains in place, Deschutes National Forest said on Aug. 10.
"All the trails and recreation sites that were previously included in the closure are open now," Deschutes spokeswoman Kaitlyn Webb said.
Some roads north of Sisters remained closed. A map can be found at bit.ly/4wiQz0E
The Grasshopper Fire burning in the Badger Creek Wilderness was at 63,659 acres and 23% containment on Aug. 10.
Crews focused on suppression efforts along the northeastern perimeter to keep the fire south of Dufur Valley Road and to secure the fire along Highway 35, a morning update on Aug. 9 said.
The fire had not crossed Highway 35, but the road remained closed between Bennett Pass Snow Park and Baseline Road.
Government Camp near Mount Hood was quiet on Aug. 5.
"Wind will continue to spread fire into the late evening, but major spread should slow as winds die down and humidities rise," an evening update on Aug. 9 said.
Seventeen closures remained in place around the Badger Creek Wilderness, including trails, campgrounds and day use sites.
Areas around the Badger Creek Wilderness remained under level 1, 2, and 3 evacuation orders. Government Camp was under a level 1 evacuation order.
Boiling temperatures and dry conditions fueled the Wrights Spring Fire near Chiloquin, which was mapped at 46,767 acres on Aug. 10. The fire ignited on Aug. 5 and was uncontained on Aug. 10.
On Aug. 7, a man was killed during firefighting operations and the Emergency Conflagration Act was invoked.
Crews continued to focus on protecting structures and stopping the fire from spreading further east, according to the Forest Service.
"Yesterday and last night the fire was very active, moving to the east and southeast, crossing Bliss Road in the vicinity of Round Mountain," said an Aug. 9 morning update. "Continued movement to the east and south is expected."
Warm, very dry and breezy weather was expected on Aug. 10, creating challenges for crews.
Level 1, 2 and 3 evacuation orders remained for areas of Klamath County near the fire, searchable on a Genasys system online.
Fire crews moved into the mop-up phase of a fire called Incident #282 that ignited north of Waldo Lake and brought concern on the boundary of the Three Sisters Wilderness.
Willamette National Forest officials said they used "aggressive firefighting tactics" to hold the fire at 17 acres.
"All spot fires are lined with hose lays as firefighters continue to cool areas with lingering heat," the federal agency said.
Mop-up activities were set to continue into the evening. Smoke may be visible in the vicinity of the fire.
The Bologna Fire 9 miles northwest of Monument doubled in size since jumping its southern perimeter on Aug. 9.
The fire was at 4,300 acres with no estimated containment on Aug. 10. Several structures were threatened, and the Oregon State Fire Marshal deployed a structure protection force.
Areas around Kimberly were under a level 3 evacuation order. Areas around Highway 19 north of Kimberly were under a level 2 order.
Crews eliminated fuel pockets and conducted mop-up on the Cottonwood Fire burning around 30 miles northwest of John Day.
The fire grew to 722 acres at 30% containment on Aug. 9. Weather in the high 80s was expected on Aug. 10, with northerly winds gusting up to 20 mph.
Level 1, 2, and 3 evacuation orders remained in effect for areas around Cottonwood Road.
The lightning caused Canyon Creek Fire burned 110,262 acres in Eastern Oregon in 2015.
Crews will continue to build containment lines around the Big Grass Fire burning near the Owyhee River Aug. 10.
The fire grew to 553,831 acres at 41% containment. Crews have constructed 670 miles of containment line since the fire started on July 23 and have continued to construct about 32 miles per day.
The Hagen Fire burning 4 miles southwest of Tollgate reached Highway 204 on Aug. 10. The highway between Weston and Elgin will remain closed indefinitely.
Crews continued to tackle spot fires and provide structure protection around Tollgate. The fire grew to 46,527 acres at 11% containment.
Level 1, 2, and 3 evacuation orders remained in place around Bingham Road.
The Crescent Butte Fire burning just off Highway 97 near Crescent in Klamath County reached 194 acres by Aug. 10.
Level 1 evacuations were in place for much of the area.
The 3,600-acre Castle Fire burning between Roseburg and Crater Lake National Park reached 75% containment while the Woodrat Mountain Fire, burning south of Jacksonville, hit 50% containment.
Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 18 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. He can be reached at [email protected] or 503-399-6801. Find him on X at @ZachsORoutdoors and BlueSky at oregonoutdoors.bsky.social
Makenzie Stamets is an outdoor intern at the Statesman Journal. She can be reached at [email protected] or on X at @MakenzieStamets.
Riley Ellis is an outdoor intern at the Statesman Journal. He can be reached at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: New Oregon wildfires bring closures as state continues record burn