With the wind blowing 70 mph in the McKenzie River drainage, Chief Rainbow Plews was quick to make the decision to go to Level 3.
Neighboring fire departments stepped up with donations to support the Detroit-Idanha Rural Fire Protection District, which lost its station and one of its fire engines in the Beachie Creek Fire.
Will Ewing, fire chief for the Idanha-Detroit Rural Fire Protection District, recounts evacuating 86 "refugees" caught in the Beachie Creek Fire that spread out of control on Labor Day.
Between Aug. 20 and Sept. 17, Hunsaker Cattle, operated by a Northern California ranch family, lost five of their six leased grazing parcels to fire.
GATES, Ore. — The unassuming utility tractor that’s usually dedicated to vegetable crops proved to be Bill Garton’s last line of defense against the wildfires raging around his land.
Through her social media following, Darleen Sichley of Abiqua Acres Dairy found a way to help neighbors returning home in the aftermath of the recent wildfires.
SALEM — Tammy Dennee had not yet transitioned into her new job as executive director of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association before she faced a major emergency.
In Molalla, Ore., where most of the residents are affiliated with the timber industry in some way, word that there’s a fire on the hill brings out every able body with a truck, water tank or c…
Ed Diehl showed off the Knights of Columbus St. Anthony Hall in Sublimity, Ore., stuffed to the rafters with containers of food, clothing and other donated items destined for victims of the re…
For one Southern Oregon student firefighter, the Almeda Fire didn’t just hit close to home — it destroyed it.
GLIDE, Ore. — John Quimby was operating a bulldozer on the Elkhorn Fire west of Red Bluff, Calif., when his home property back in Oregon was destroyed by the Archie Creek Fire.
When Cal Fire resources were stretched thin during the LNU Lightning Complex Fires, a small group of volunteers helped save the towns of Pope Valley and Angwin, Calif.
In Northern California, a group of about 200 farmer-volunteers — members of the nonprofit Norcal Livestock Evacuation — worked to save thousands of farm animals during this year’s California w…
GLIDE, Ore. — Jason Saylor didn’t have pre-approval through a fire contract to engage the Archie Creek Fire, but he didn’t let that stop him.
GATES, Ore. — The knowledge that deputies from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office have built up about Oregon’s rugged Santiam Canyon proved critical as wildfires pushed by winds topping 100 mp…
Returning to Gates, Ore., was an eye-opening experience for neighbors Cindy Chauran and Deana Freres.
A month after wildfires broke out across Washington state, the Red Cross was still providing lodging to survivors who lost their homes in Pierce County, Wenatchee and Spokane, demonstrating th…
GLIDE, Ore. — While many of their neighbors were working on the front lines of the Archie Creek Fire, three women were keeping operations behind the scenes organized.
Tommie Reevs is the barn owner and manager at Silver Saddle Ranch and Stables in Roseburg, Ore.
Emery & Sons workers and the personnel of two other construction companies set aside competitive urges and business rivalries to come together as a community in fighting the recent wildfir…
During his regular duties at the Oregon Department of Agriculture, Jonathan Sandau seldom has to chase a huge hog that’s escaped its pen.
Todd Miller, superintendent of the Santiam Canyon School District, checked on both of his district's school buildings almost daily for two weeks as the Beachie Creek Fire burned out of control.
Kellie Puckett leapt from her 4x4 Gator and greeted a family unloading their horse from a trailer.
People who fled Oregon’s historic wildfires this year were often faced with a dual dilemma.
At one time Denise Greif cooked for crowds at logging camps and fed crews on Alaskan fishing boats.
Scott and Jill Ingalls have very specific abilities that were a perfect fit for the massive effort of keeping animals safe, sheltered and sustained at the Oregon State Fairgrounds during the S…
Taming the energy of a wildfire on Oregon’s high desert takes a lot of human energy and organization. That’s a fact well known by Summer Lake rancher and firefighter Kevin Leehmann.
LINCOLN CITY, Ore. — On the first night of the Echo Mountain Fire Complex and then again on the second night, North Lincoln Fire & Rescue Chief Rob Dahlman made the call for the department…
Jack Carriger, fire chief for the Stayton Fire District and Gates Rural Fire Protection District, said his crews of mostly volunteers worked long hours under dangerous conditions to save as ma…
The wildfires that exploded across Oregon in late summer quickly strained all available firefighting resources, requiring Gov. Kate Brown to call in help from the Oregon National Guard.
Wildfires are the West’s worst enemy. Every year, rural towns, homes, farms, ranches and forests are blackened. Urged on by the wind and fed by summer’s dry heat these blazes consume everythin…
In 2020, about 7,353 firefighters on the Cal Fire force have fought more than 1,920 wildfires since Aug. 15, according to a Cal Fire spokeswoman.
It took just a few hours for the Alameda Fire to consume everything at Simple Machine Winery as the blaze all but leveled whole communities in Southern Oregon.Brian Denner and Clea Arthur, who…
Agricultural advocacy group TimberUnity has earned kudos for its aid efforts during the wildfires that devastated many Oregon farms, forests and communities.
One man’s junk became treasure in the hands of his Molalla, Ore., neighbors as they fought to contain the Beachie Creek Fire as it threatened their homes.
Firefighter headcount increased late, stayed steady, during unusual season. Record high came Sept. 19.
A couple from Jefferson who “stepped up” to help out their community during the wildfire emergency proved once again that heroes are forged from fire.
With six wildfires already raging in Oregon’s forests, the state Department of Forestry knew the Labor Day weather forecast meant trouble.
Derrick Josi pulled in to get coffee at Lindsey’s Lattes in Tillamook, Ore., and ended up paying considerably more.
When the Holiday Farm Fire struck Oregon’s McKenzie River Valley, Akins Trailer Sales, a trailer dealer in Harrisburg, Ore., offered to lend out its entire new fleet of trailers for free on an…
Farmers on the outskirts of the Oregon towns of Stayton and Sublimity who’d planned on ordinary field work encountered an unwelcome surprise in early September.
Personnel, equipment ordering system designed for quick delivery if resources available.
Whitman County Sheriff Brett Myers and his deputies had less than an hour to evacuate the 209 residents of Malden, Wash., as a wind-driven firestorm bore down on the town.
