Fire burns harvest hopes of Oregon wheat farmers
PORTLAND, Oregon — Farmers rushed to save their livelihoods as a wildfire roared through vast Oregon wheat fields Thursday and crushed their hopes at the peak of what was expected to be one of the most bountiful harvests in years.
Farmers used water tanks on the backs of pickup trucks and tractors to battle flames whipping across fields for the third straight day.
One man was found dead near his charred tractor Wednesday, apparently overrun as he tried to clear a strip of land to protect a neighbour’s property.
Farmers who grow tens of thousands of acres of soft, white wheat typically bound for Asia said they are confronting walls of fire up to nine metres high and wind so strong that it tosses embers ahead of the fire’s leading edge.
The conditions threaten farmers working to stop the blaze from reaching the wheat.
“It’s been day after day after day of pretty horrendous winds, and then the fire creates its own wind,” Alan von Borstel, who has battled the flames with his son, said by phone. “As the fire gets closer, you actually start to feel threatened, and if it gets too close, we realize we can’t do it, [and] we get the hell out of Dodge.”
Von Borstel’s crops so far are untouched, but the fire is just a few kilometres from his home.
The blaze about 140 kilometres east of Portland has scorched nearly 210 square kilometres of wheat fields and grasslands since igniting on Tuesday.
It was the largest of more than 200 wildfires across Oregon, many sparked by lightning. Other fires dotted states throughout the drought-stricken Western United States.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said the wheatcountry fire might have been intentionally set and the state will help investigate. Nearly 180 firefighters were heading to protect homes and other structures in the hardest-hit areas.
Authorities have told residents of 900 homes to either evacuate their homes or be ready to go as the flames spread rapidly.
The wheat at risk isn’t good for making bread and is primarily shipped to Asian markets — particularly Japan and Korea — for use in ramen noodles, steamed breads and flatbreads. The crop this year had looked particularly bountiful.