Eastern Oregon wildfire threatens homes, forces evacuations

JOHN DAY — A monster of a wildfire escaped its cage Friday, stalking homeowners and firefighters on its way to threatening the rural cities of John Day and Canyon City.

More than 100 homes in the canyons and plateaus around this eastern Oregon community were evacuated Friday as the Canyon Creek Complex went on its rampage. The fire, sending up a towering plume that blocked the sun, is expected to burn out of control for days.

That’s because major fires across the Northwest have left the supply line empty of more crews.

The Canyon Creek Complex was but one of 12 large fires scorching about 140,000 acres across Oregon on Friday, with the largest burning near Warm Springs in central Oregon. Those blazes, combined with nine in Washington ravaging about 72,000 acres, made the two states the nation’s top priority, said Carol Connolly, a spokeswoman for the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center.

The northwestern region is expected to remain at the top Saturday, she said, as windy conditions did 6,500 firefighters no favors heading into the weekend.

“It’s the general feeling that we were challenged today by the windy weather,” she said.

Oregon and Washington are now first in line to receive help, but that will only happen if conditions improve elsewhere. The northwest region was the nation’s top priority for 43 consecutive days last year.

“Resources right now are very slim,” she said. “We’ve been told, what we have is what we’re getting.”

Several major highways close as Oregon wildfires rage

Steve Beverlin, supervisor of the Malheur National Forest in John Day, said he’s been battling what started as two fires with about 100 firefighters — a blend of government and private firefighters. He had no estimate on its size, but said the fire easily covered thousands of acres of national forestland, private range, and homesteads.

Gov. Kate Brown late Friday invoked the Conflagration Act. That means Beverlin in the coming days will get backup from local fire departments, who will be arriving to help save homes and businesses in the wildfire’s path.

That won’t stop the blaze, and the heavy winds that drove the fire Friday are forecast to continue for four to five days. The Canyon Creek Complex started as two separate fires, the Berry Creek fire about 10 miles south of John Day and the Mason Creek fire, roughly another 10 miles farther south.

They became one indistinguishable blaze Friday. The highway between John Day and Burns – U.S. 395 – was closed by the afternoon as both residents and fire crews pulled out of the burning territory. The wind-pushed wildfire burned down the steep, forested canyon that points right at John Day.

“It’s like blowing up a chimney,” Beverlin said.

Helicopters managed to stall the fire from hitting a remote subdivision, but high winds grounded them for hours in the afternoon. A wind shift about that time gave some additional reprieve as homeowners packed up their vehicles and, as best they could, herded horses and other livestock into trailers for rescue.

Air attack is essential, Beverlin said.

“We need additional air resources to increase our comfort,” Beverlin said.

Without it, the two frontier towns are at risk.

“I’m pretty confident they will be OK,” said Beverlin, who had to take a break from firefighting Friday to evacuate his own home.

The helicopters are backed by single-engine retardant bombers, but none of the large ones capable of hitting a broad swath.

“There are none. They’re all committed to other fires,” Beverlin said.

He also can’t order hot shot crews – the specially-trained 20-person teams. He said when he put in an order for more help, he was told there were 100 crew orders ahead of him that couldn’t be filled.

Several shelters opened around John Day to house people and animals. The Grant County Fairgrounds opened its livestock pens and turned a pavilion into a temporary shelter. Churches and granges around the valley also opened the doors to house an increasing number of evacuees.

Authorities said it was probable that several homes and other structures were destroyed in the canyon south of John Day, but they had no confirmation or count.

Besides U.S. 395, Grant County residents also had to contend with closures on two other main highways leading out of the area. Oregon 7, the road to Baker City, was closed about 30 miles east of John Day, and U.S. 26 was closed at Unity, roughly 60 miles east of John Day. Both closures were triggered by out-of-control wildfires in those areas.

In John Day, cars and trucks filled gravel pull-outs on the two-lane road that leads to Grant County Regional Airport. The airport sits high above John Day on a bluff, and afforded a direct view of the advancing fire. For a time, the airport itself faced evacuation, which would have disrupted fire operations since it serves as the staging and supply deploy for helicopters and other aircraft tasked to the firefighting effort.

A grimy-faced tanker driver, his yellow fire-resistant shirt smudged with dirt and grease, glanced at the glowering plume as he pulled out of the air base.

“Only God is going to put this out,” he said.

Brad Schmidt of The Oregonian/OregonLive contributed to this report.