More than 120 households in a mostly rural area of Wasco County have been ordered to evacuate immediately from the path of the White River Fire, and people on nearby farms and ranches were urged Saturday morning by the local sheriff’s department to develop plans for moving horses and other livestock if the conflagration grows or changes directions. All told, more than 300 residences have been told to either evacuate, or prepare for potential evacuations.
“It’s going to be a challenging day,” Noel Livingston, incident commander, said in a Saturday morning briefing on the fire. “We’re anticipating very active fire behavior.”
More than 800 firefighting personnel are working to contain the blaze as they face a red-flag weather warning, gusty winds and low humidity in sometimes challenging terrain, according to an update shared through the regional Incident Information System.
The fire had charred more than 10,000 acres and was 10% contained as of mid-morning Saturday.
Initial firefighting efforts focused on keeping the blaze from spreading across forestlands to the west, Livingston said, but easterly winds have allowed the fire to grow, prompting crews to shift their focus accordingly.
Heavy smoke has somewhat hindered firefighting efforts so far, Livington said.
“If we can’t see, we can’t fly. That was a challenge for a lot of the day yesterday,” he said. “We’re hoping today for better visibility so we can get aircraft up.”
If they are able, crews hope to use aircraft to distribute fire retardant in areas threatened by the wildfire, Livingston said.
Gov. Kate Brown declared an emergency conflagration for the White River Fire on Thursday night, a decree that allows the state to direct additional resources toward fighting the fire - and Livingston noted Saturday that crews are making eager use of additional resources.
The Red Cross is helping people displaced by the fire to access shelter through a command post at the Shilo Inn in The Dalles.
Several groups announced Friday that they are helping with animal evacuations, including of horses, rabbits and poultry. The Wasco County Fairgrounds in Tygh Valley and The Howards Haven Animal Sanctuary in Lyle, Washington, both said they could assist with livestock evacuations.
Earlier this week, the pilot of a firefighting helicopter died in a crash while working the White River Fire.
