Oregon Battles Over 30 Large Wildfires

Wildland firefighters continue fighting more than 30 large fires across the state of Oregon.

In Grant and Morrow Counties in the northeastern part of the state, the Battle Mountain Complex incident, a mega fire nearing 150,000 acres, was fought by strained staff and received additional support from contractors in the region.

“Every fire year is different. And this year we've seen a lot of fires start earlier in the season and fuels are extremely dry.” said Oregon Department of Forestry Public Information Officer Natalie Weber along the fire line. “And so, they're really primed for that fire potential. And when you have the lightning storms that we've had over the past couple of weeks across the state, this is really the result of that."

Further south, the Durkee Fire near Huntington, Oregon, has scorched 1,600 square km, an area more than half the size of Rhode Island's land mass, authorities said. It is threatening several towns.

The blaze was set off by lightning on July 17, and wind gusts up to 100 kph drove the flames across brush, timberland and ranches, killing hundreds of cattle. The fire was only 20% contained, officials said.

The Butte County Sheriff's Department ordered evacuations for rural foothill communities, including nearly the entire town of Cohasset, home to about 400 residents.

The Borel Fire, which began July 24 near Highway178, has burned over 31,950 acres and continues to destroy homes near the town of Havilah, according to radio traffic.

Smoke from the wildfires burning across the American West is expected to affect much of the United States throughout the weekend.