Oregon Wildfire update

[Ray and Susan Huff]

Unless absolutely necessary, do not plan to travel through Oregon.  Unprecedented wildfires are widespread west of the Cascades and to the east as well.  Major roads are closed, including I-5 from Ashland to the CA border.  Hwy 58 seems to be the only major hwy over the Cascades and a majority of the roads north of Eugene and to the east of I-5 are closed as well.  Widespread smoke has air quality at the dangerous level.

Most all USFS forests and campgrounds are closed; same for BLM in NW Oregon.  Dispersed camping is prohibited statewide.  Strong East winds are a major factor in the severity of these fires, probably the worse in history for the state.  Many homes and communities are in danger; many are destroyed.  Winds are expected to subside by Thursday, shifting to westerly.  Hopefully this will help firefighters protect those in danger.  With fire fighting resources already stretched to the limit, it is going to be some time before many of these fires are contained.

Consult Tripcheck.com for road closures.  Many of the roads that are still open, but within evacuation zones are restricted to outgoing traffic only.  Around the East Portland Metro are, traffic will be worse than rush hour.

It will be sad, in the aftermath of this event, to see the destruction to our beautiful state.

Edited September 9, 2020 by Susan Huff

[SeaDawg]

Thank you for the notice. 

We hope everyone will be very careful out there. 

Sherry