Oregon Smoke Information

The Deception Fire made a significant run at approximately 4:30 on Wednesday afternoon. Exact acreage increase is unknown but possibly another 400 acres. Burning is expected to continue through the night. Transport winds carried the smoke to the east of Oakridge but are expected to settle with night cooling. Smoke impacts are expected tonight and throughout the morning in the Oakridge community, on Hwy 58 and along the Middle Fork of the Willamette. 

The Deception Fire grew 235 acres on Tuesday 8/26.  Poor dispersion and light NW winds have kept the smoke in the Oakridge community through the mid-afternoon. The Oakridge Air Quality monitor is currently in the Unhealthy level but smoke is slowly lifting with increased NW winds. There is light smoke along Hwy 58 and down the Middle Fork of the Willamette. Moderate growth continued today and similar conditions are expected tomorrow.

Northwest wildfires: Crews still battling 8 large, uncontained blazes   Lynne Terry | lterry@oregonian.com By Lynne Terry | lterry@oregonian.com OregonLive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on August 25, 2014 at 9:26 AM, updated August 25, 2014 at 9:27 AM The wildfire season appears to be winding down, with crews containing four large blazes in Washington state in the past 24 hours. The Little Bridge Creek fire west of Winthrop and the Upper Falls fire north of Winthrop are both now 100 percent contained. So is the Carlton Complex south of Twisp, which has been burning over a month and has torched more than 256,100 acres. The other blaze that's now 100 percent lined is the the Auvil Canyon fire northwest of Waterville, which has scorched more than 600 acres. In Oregon, the Deception/Stanley complex remains the top priority. Sparked by lightning, the five fires in the complex have charred nearly 470 acres and are 53 percent conta

Northwest wildfires: Crews make progress but extreme conditions remain in parts of Oregon   Lynne Terry | lterry@oregonian.com By Lynne Terry | lterry@oregonian.com OregonLive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on August 18, 2014 at 9:53 AM Firefighters across the Northwest have made progress in the past 24 hours thanks to cooler temperatures and higher humidity but forecasters warned Monday that part of Oregon still faces an extreme fire threat. A total of 15 large, uncontrolled blazes are burning in Oregon and Washington, with 16 holdover fires popping up in the last 24 hours from lightning strikes last week. Initial attack crews managed to contain all of the small fires while making progress against big ones, said Carol Connolly, spokeswoman for the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center . "Things are looking pretty good on the large fires," she said. "Crews are starting to increase containment numbers.&quo

Precipitation helps slow growth of wildfires in Oregon, Washington 5milefire.jpeg Crews battle the 5 Mile Fire in northeastern Oregon. The blaze was about 95 percent contained by Friday morning. (Inciweb) John Killen | jkillen@oregonian.com By John Killen | jkillen@oregonian.com OregonLive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on August 15, 2014 at 10:37 AM Rain and high humidity around much of the Pacific Northwest has helped firefighters who have been battling blazes all over Oregon and Washington. Officials report that most of the blazes grew little since Thursday and crews are making progress toward containing them. The Associated Press is reporting that there were 6,000 lightning strikes in Oregon Thursday, but most of them were east of the Cascades. And the 18 new fires that flared up Thursday were mostly 6 acres or less. Here's a look at some of the mo

Central OR & JDICC Wildfire Air Quality Summary Report Prepared for August 14, 2014, Kelly Palmer and Andrea Holland, Air Resource Advisors    Air Quality Outlook Yesterday’s Elevated humidity and lower temperatures dampened fire behavior to primarily smoldering and creeping activity resulting in minimal smoke impacts.    Today’s Low pressure brings cooler temperatures, mostly cloudy skies with isolated showers and a 10% chance of wetting rain.    Only a slight increase in fire activity is predicted for today and tonight with mostly smoldering, creeping and isolated torching activity and a minimal rate of spread. Light upslope and ridgeline daytime winds in the South Fork John Day River valley combined with light fire activity should contribute to good air quality with limited and localized smoke impacts.  Similar conditions tonight with downslope winds after sunset will again lead to limited and localized smoke impacts.  Northwest

Central OR & JDICC Wildfire Air Quality Summary Report Prepared for August 13, 2014, Andrea Holland, Air Resource Advisor    Air Quality Outlook Yesterday’s storm passage brought gusty winds to the areas around the South Fork Complex and Bald Sisters fires resulting in a noticeable clearing of the air in surrounding communities. Today’s elevated humidity and lower temperatures will dampen fire behavior to primarily smoldering and creeping activity.  Smoke impacts will be localized and potentially heaviest during early to late morning hours reflecting drainage flow during those times into affected valley communities.  Transport winds will be from the west to northwest mostly providing relief to Oregon communities from the fires in northern California. Tomorrow will see similar temperature and humidity conditions.  Fire behavior is not expected to increase. Smoke impacts to communities closest to the South Fork Complex and Bald Sis