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Wildfires force 500,000 to flee in Oregon, roads clog with cars in Oregon City
PORTLAND, Ore. — About 500,000 people in Oregon have been forced evacuate because of wildfires raging in the state, the Oregon Office of Emergency Management said Thursday.
OEM said it expects that number to grow.
Nearly 1,000,000 acres of land are ablaze across the state, spewing thick, gray and orange clouds of smoke into the air.
The fires have exhausted the state’s resources, OEM Director Andrew Phelps said, forcing the state to reach out to other emergency management agencies across the country.
“Our Oregon firefighters and the emergency management community have been fully engaged on these devastating fires, including the many first responders who have been personally affected by the evacuations, power outages and destruction. Their efforts, stamina and response are nothing short of heroic,” said Phelps in a news release. “We can all do our part to support them by staying informed, being ready to go if evacuation and if you are somewhere safe, staying put."
OEM encouraged people to sign up for notifications from their county’s emergency alert system. It also said people can register on the American Red Cross Safe and Well website to help people connect with loved ones and keep up-to-date on search efforts.
On Thursday, officials issued a Level 3 “Go” evacuation order for the town of Molalla. And the towns of Canby and Oregon City were placed under Level 2: “Get Set” to evacuate.
With the increase of the evacuation levels, long lines of cars formed on the streets of Oregon City as people fled the town and the area. Evacuees from Molalla and other areas of the county had already come to Oregon City, which had been deemed an evacuation point, but they then faced another decision of where they would go next.
Oregon City Commissioner Rachel Smith said shopping centers in the town had been full of RVs and cars.
“Now, as of this afternoon, they’ve been told, essentially, they need to find somewhere else to go,” she said in an afternoon phone interview with KATU News.
Clackamas County did ask people who were not under a Level 3 evacuation order to delay getting on the roads. But many didn't want to wait.
One family of nearly 20 people, who live in Canby, which is under Level 2, said they didn't want to risk it and hit the road Thursday.
"I just took some of the pictures off the wall, and I grabbed all of my camping stuff to feed my group. That's all I took," said Mendy Eatherton.
Community Steps Up
Many members of the community have stepped up to help capture the influx of evacuees. That included the Milwaukie-Portland Elks Lodge No. 142, which opened up its lodge for evacuees.
It’s allowing people to park their cars and RVs in its open spaces and lots. It also plans to serve dinners, provide showers and restrooms for the evacuees.
“I think everybody is scared to death. And we should be,” said Scott White, the president of the lodge. “You know, we’ve gone through the pandemic and we’re just starting to see the upper side of that and coming down, and now this happens. So, I think everybody’s just scared to death.
He said he expected the lodge to be at capacity Thursday night.
A similar situation was feared for the city of Sandy, which was also placed under a Level 2 evacuation. People there have also began to leave the area.
Officials with the Sandy Fire District encouraged people in Sandy to pack up leave, because if a Level 3 evacuation level order comes down, they want to try and avoid a traffic jam.
There were problems Wednesday when a small part of the fire district -- that did not include Sandy -- went from Level 1 to Level 3. That did cause traffic problems.
"Sandy was plugged up. We had a couple of auto accidents," said Fire Chief Phil Schneider. "Some of the larger stores like Fred Meyer were experiencing an extreme, almost to the fighting stage over water and ice, and all of our main thoroughfares were solidly blocked. We had to get a hold of ODOT and change the lights because they were backed up all the way to [Highway] 211. So, we were kinda hoping that if you have a place to go, it would be good to pre-plan and maybe go now, and if we go to a Level 3, it will lessen some of the traffic jam that we've been experiencing."
Firefighters Disengage and then Re-engage Wildfire
Firefighters changed their approach to fighting wildfires burning in Clackamas County for a few hours Thursday as two large fires - the Riverside Fire and Beachie Creek Fire - could burn together.
Firefighters were told to disengage with the fire Thursday afternoon and instead help evacuate citizens on their way out.
But shortly before 7 p.m. they re-engaged the Riverside Fire that's burning in the Mount Hood National Forest.
"Thank you for your understanding as today's tactical pause gave firefighters time to move to safety and reassess extreme conditions," U.S. Forest Service officials there tweeted.
The Riverside Fire has burned at least 120,000 acres. The Beachie Creek Fire has burned 182,000 acres.
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