Wildfire conditions around Mount Hood intensified again Tuesday as the massive Grasshopper Fire pushed farther across the landscape, evacuation levels expanded near Dufur and Tygh Valley, and a second growing fire south of Mount Hood prompted Level 3 evacuation orders...
Travel conditions are slowly improving east of Prineville as portions of U.S. Highway 26 reopen following weeks of wildfire activity from the massive Rowe Creek Complex. The highway is not fully open yet, but the closed section has become considerably shorter than it...
Much of Western Oregon is waking up to surprisingly clean air Tuesday morning, but cross the Cascades and the picture changes fast. Wildfire smoke continues to hang over portions of Central and Eastern Oregon on August 11, with Prineville, La Pine, Burns, Madras,...
Another plume of smoke rose above the forests near Mount Hood on Sunday, adding one more fire to what has already become an extraordinary and exhausting wildfire season across Oregon. The new blaze, called the Austin Fire, was reported Sunday in the Mount Hood...
A dangerous shift in the Wrights Spring Fire turned deadly Friday, claiming the life of a Klamath Falls man who was operating heavy equipment as crews worked to slow the wildfire east of Chiloquin. The Klamath County Sheriff’s Office identified the man as 47-year-old...
After several days of staring through a brown haze, people across western Oregon may finally be able to open a window and see the hills again. Wildfire smoke that settled over Portland, Salem, Eugene and much of the Willamette Valley is expected to begin thinning...
One of Central Oregon’s most important east-west highways remains shut down as firefighters continue working along the sprawling Rowe Creek Complex. As of Thursday, August 6, U.S. Highway 26 was still closed between Prineville and Mitchell. Oregon Department of...
Wildfires are serious. Evacuation notices are serious. And when fire officials tell Oregonians to prepare, people should pay attention. But serious situations don’t need to be exaggerated to generate clicks. A national news story published by The Independent on...
As wildfires force evacuations, destroy homes and send smoke across Oregon and the West, some people are apparently watching the devastation with something other than concern. They’re betting money on it. Online prediction markets have begun offering contracts that...
Smoke had drifted into Lane County again, turning the sky a sickly-yellow and the surrounding hills into indistinct hazy blue, when I found myself remembering an old newspaper clipping I’d saved during some research into western Oregon history. The clipping came from...
Mt. Hood Meadows is under a Level 3 “Go Now” evacuation order as the Grasshopper Fire continues burning through the forests east of Mount Hood. The popular ski resort announced the evacuation Tuesday morning, asking employees, visitors, and members of the public to...
Oregon’s already devastating 2026 wildfire season is now within striking distance of becoming the largest on record for total acreage burned. As of Monday morning, August 3, 60 large fires had burned an estimated 2,014,481 acres across the state, according to figures...