Oregon Wildfires Burned 1,400 Square Miles, Forced 500,000 People to Flee

By Mary Anne R. First Posted: Sep 10, 2020 11:50 PM EDT

Wildfires ravaging Oregon have at least scorched 1,400 miles of the state with more than 500,000 people statewide ordered to evacuate, according to officials.

Winds continues to drive fires into populated areas today, especially in Clackamas County. Towns of Molalla and Estacada have seen damage and the cities of Canby and Oregon City are now being told to prepare to evacuate.

A total of 900,000 acres have burned across the Cascades, which is now triple the figure, as announced by Gov. Kate Brown Wednesday.

"To put that number into perspective, over the last 10 years, we see an average of 500,000 acres burned in an entire year. We've seen that nearly double in the past three days," Brown said in a report.

The Oregon Fire Marshal had expected to catch a break from the weather, with winds dying down enough to get some of the state's largest fires under control. However, the winds continued to push wildfires across the Clackamas County.

On Thursday afternoon, state and local officials said they are unsure if the warning issued to prepare people for evacuation would extend into Portland's southeastern edges. Officials noted that the decision would depend on the wind.

According to Brown, the weather system is not giving them a reprieve.

"My teams are telling me that while wind dynamics are changing, we are now facing unstable air conditions that continue to make response efforts very, very difficult," Brown said in a report.

Brown noted that the state is still waiting on death toll numbers. But there have been at least three reported fire deaths in the state.

Authorities said the more than 500,000 people statewide had been forced to evacuate due to the wildfires.

The Oregon Department of Correction, on the other hand, said it is evacuating a prison as two large wildfires appear to be merging.

The latest count came from the Oregon Office of Emergency Management. The recent count is 10 percent of the state's 4.2 million population.

The firefighting teams include 10 incident management teams. Brown has also requested the U.S. Department of Defense for a battalion of active duty military who trained in firefighting.

Oregon Deputy Fire Chief Doug Grafe said they need to come close to doubling their efforts over the next couple of weeks to fight the wildfires.

The unpredictability of the winds leads to more question than answers. It is unclear where the fires will head next.

Wildfires have been also scorching the state of California. The wildfire north of Sacramento is considered to be largest in California history.

The August Complex Fire is a combination of 37 fires caused by lightning in Mendocino National Forest on Aug.17, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

Forest Service spokesperson Terry Krasko suggested that the fire may have been actually be bigger.

At least 12 people have died in the last month as 29 major wildfires burn in California.

The National Interagency Fire Center said on Thursday that 102 active large fires have scorched 4.4 million acres in 12 states across Alaska and the West.