Wildfires raging in nine Western states
Big cities, tourist sites suffer effects of flames
TROUTDALE, Ore. — A growing Oregon wildfire covered parts of Portland’s metropolitan area Tuesday 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 U.S. states that sent smoke into cities from Seattle to Denver.
The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, a federal agency that coordinates wildfire-fighting, said 80 large fires were burning on 2,200 square miles in nine Western states.
The 16-square-mile fire east of Portland forced hundreds of home evacuations.
A closure of one section of Interstate 84 because of thick smoke and falling ash was extended 50 miles east of Portland because flames reached the roadway, said Dave Thompson, a spokesman for Oregon’s Department of Transportation.
Elsewhere, a fast-moving wildfire in northern Utah swept down a canyon Tuesday morning.
A least one home burned and more than 1,000 people were evacuated as high winds fed the flames in the canyon north of Salt Lake City. Thick, black smoke closed parts of two highways.
A fire in Montana’s Glacier National Park emptied its busiest tourist spot as wind gusts drove the flames toward the doorstep of an iconic lodge.
Outside California’s Yosemite National Park, a wind-fueled fire made its way deeper into a grove of 2,700-year-old giant sequoia trees on Labor Day. Officials said the fire had gone through about half the grove but had not killed any trees.
Civilian firefighting commanders said Tuesday that 200 soldiers from Joint Base Lewis Mcchord, Washington, would undergo four days of training and then be sent to a complex of 14 wildfires in the Umpqua National Forest that have burned 47 square miles.
A wildfire burning near Mount Rainier National Park grew to more than 29 square miles, and heavy smoke blanketed many cities in Washington state.
The air quality in Spokane, Washington, was rated as hazardous Tuesday morning. The National Weather Service said it was likely to get worse as wind shifts bring in smoke from fires in Canada, Montana, Oregon and Washington.
In Oregon, people living in about 700 homes in and around the Columbia River Gorge have been forced to evacuate the area. Others have been warned to get ready as flames burn trees and brush in one of the state’s biggest tourist attractions.