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Columbia Gorge fire threatens town of Rowena

Kitzhaber declares wildfire a conflagration

The Columbian
Published: August 6, 2014, 12:00am
2 Photos
A wildfire sweeps east from the west end of Rowena, threatening homes in Rowena and on the crest above. Spokesman, Justin de Ruyter, says local fire crews battled through the early morning against the brush and timber fire in Rowena, an unincorporated community of fewer than 200. Residents of seven homes were told to evacuate.
A wildfire sweeps east from the west end of Rowena, threatening homes in Rowena and on the crest above. Spokesman, Justin de Ruyter, says local fire crews battled through the early morning against the brush and timber fire in Rowena, an unincorporated community of fewer than 200. Residents of seven homes were told to evacuate. With steep terrain, high temperatures and high winds, firefighters are facing a difficult challenge. Photo Gallery

ROWENA, Ore. — Firefighters told residents of 70 homes in the Columbia Gorge community of Rowena to evacuate on Wednesday. Another 100 homes in the area were on notice to be ready to go.

The Rowena fire began in brush Tuesday night and spread to about 200 acres of timber and scrub oak in weather conditions that had fire officials worried.

Firefighters feared the Rowena fire would spread as the gorge’s famed winds kicked up to as much as 40 mph Wednesday.

“We’ve got a challenging fire on our hands,” fire spokesman Justin de Ruyter said. “We’re going to be at the mercy of Mother Nature today.”

There were no immediate reports of houses burning in Rowena, an unincorporated town of fewer than 200 people about 75 miles east of Portland, and about 6 miles west of The Dalles, a city of about 14,000 on Columbia River. The old two-lane Highway 30 was closed, but Interstate 84 remained open.

Gov. John Kitzhaber invoked the state’s authority to mobilize local fire departments to protect buildings, and structural fire crews have come from three counties.

The governor also toured Oregon’s biggest wildfire, the Oregon Gulch fire, which burned six homes last week in the Siskiyou Mountains along the California border about 15 miles east of Ashland. It was 37 percent contained at 57 square miles. While in fire camp, he called on Congress to fund more forest thinning projects to reduce the risk of wildfires.

“These fires are a symptom of a much larger forest health issue,” he said. “We just have to begin to deal with the root causes. That means lending some urgency to improving the health and resiliency of our forests in a way that can produce jobs.

“It’s up to the United States Congress to put resources into the (forest health issue) so that we can clean up these forests and reduce this fire risk.”

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack this week said the U.S. Forest Service will soon have to start pulling funding from thinning projects and other programs to pay for the continued battle against wildfires.

Congress is divided over how to move forward on the issue.

In all, there are 10 large fires in Oregon, with nearly 4,000 people fighting them across 143 square miles of timber and rangeland. The cost to date exceeds $36.7 million.

A spokesman at the federal interagency fire center in Portland, Tom Knappenberger, said the Northwest has been at Fire Preparedness Level 5 — the top level — since July 16, and the season still has a long way to go.

“It’s just an indicator of how bad this fire season is, and it’s only Aug. 6,” he said. “It’s just amazing.”

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