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Captain David Childs, a World War II P-47 Thunderbolt pilot, will be the honored guest Saturday, June 15, at the Columbia Gorge Regional Airpo…
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Level three evacuation notices – leave immediately – have been issued to Wasco County residents between Sherers Falls to Mack’s Canyon along the Deschues River due to a grass fire that started Thursday afternoon.
The Squally Point Fire was held to 19 acres Tuesday afternoon. Reported just before 2 p.m., the fire was burning in grass and brush approximately four miles northwest of The Dalles, near the Columbia River Gorge Discovery Center. The fire is human caused and under investigation, but is not suspicious in nature.
Moro — The Substation Fire, which started southeast of The Dalles on Tuesday afternoon, moved further east today driven by high winds. Firefighters saw heightened activity on the north and the south ends of the fire. More than 50,000 acres in Sherman and Wasco Counties are affected. Highway 97 from Biggs Junction to milepost 67, the junction with Highway 197, was closed Wednesday evening.
Neal Creek Fire, which roared up at some time after 4:10 p.m. Thursday, is burning 15 acres. Crews made “really good progress” on the blaze overnight and have stopped its spread, a public information officer told the News on Friday morning.
The Jewel Road Fire was reported Saturday at 4:30 p.m. Saturday burning in grass and brush on Oregon Department of Forestry-protected lands west of Dufur in central Oregon. Fire-fighting resources from ODF’s Central Oregon District and several cooperators stopped the fire’s spread at 31 acres.
GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — A wind-driven wildfire near the rural Southern Oregon community of Williams raced across half a square mile and destroyed one vacant home and several vehicles Friday before fire crews got the upper hand.
MADRAS — Some of the next generation of firefighting air tankers will be based at an airport in Central Oregon, along with a collection of vintage planes. The Bend Bulletin reports that Erickson Aero Tanker of Hillsboro now has two of its MD-87 jets based at the Madras Municipal Airport and will be adding three more by the end of the summer. The company bought seven planes from a Spanish airline, and will be converting them to drop fire retardant on wildfires.
PORTLAND (AP) — The Tillamook Air Museum is leaving the coast. The museum located in a massive WWII blimp hangar off Highway 101 houses vintage aircraft owned by Erickson Group, and it attracts about 70,000 visitors annually.
