Editor’s note: Because there are continued updates to this wildfire, we are turning this into a liveblog style, meaning that the most recent updates will be at the top of the story.
6:30 p.m. From the Washington County Sheriff’s Office: “Evacuation levels: Locations that were previously LEVEL 2 are now LEVEL 3 – GO NOW (leave immediately). Areas include:
South of SW Sain Creek Rd
City of Cherry Grove
West of Lee Rd
See a map here by searching for Lee Falls.
Original story below:
Banks firefighters Captain Scott Arlin and Firefighter Salma Alsheba “Sheba” finished up an eight day stint aiding fire crews at the Telephone Fire, burning northeast of Burns, and a second fire they were sent to as they were headed home.
They made it back to Banks around 11 a.m. Thursday, along with Lieutenant Julie Kemper
By early Thursday afternoon, Arlin and Alsheba headed out again, this time closer to home.
A Cherry Grove area fire, cause still unknown, was burning near Hagg Lake, sending a column of smoke visible from Gaston and surrounding areas into already hazy skies choked by almost 1.4 million acres burning throughout the state.
Prompting a series of evacuations (check the Washington County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page for the latest evacuation information, this journalist is on-scene at the fire and doesn’t have reliable internet in rural western Washington County to stay abreast of current evacuation levels), the fire has drawn more than one hundred to battle the fire, which is threatening Cherry Grove homes on a 90+ degree day.
Just before 3:30 p.m., Hillsboro Fire & Rescue PIO Piseth Pich said the fire was at zero percent containment and said the five-alarm brush fire was estimated at 100 acres.
Airplanes overhead nearly drowned out the sound of the spokesperson; they had drawn water from Hagg Lake, which was closed to the public.
More than a 100 firefighters were on scene, and around a dozen jurisdictions were on scene, including Banks Fire District, Forest Grove Fire & Rescue, TVF&R, the sheriff’s office, the Oregon Department of Forestry, and many more.
Numerous road closures were in the area, and officials urged people to stay away.
This is a developing story. I will update it as internet connectivity allows.
Chas Hundley is the editor of the Gales Creek Journal and sister news publications the Banks Post and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.
