Blazes create smoke alarm
A GROWING Oregon wildfire covered parts of Portland’s metropolitan area yesterday with ash and forced the shutdown of a lengthy stretch of highway through the state’s scenic Columbia River Gorge.
It was one of dozens of wildfires burning in western US states that sent smoke into cities from Seattle to Denver – prompting health warnings.
The National Interagency Fire Centre in Boise, Idaho, a federal agency that coordinates wildfire-fighting, said 80 large fires were burning on 5700 square kilometres in nine Western states.