Wildfire — Central Willamette Valley, Oregon

2022-09-09 to 2022-09-10 · Central Willamette Valley, Oregon

Event narrative

The Vitae Springs Fire started in South Salem Friday evening and was fully contained by late Saturday morning. The estimated burned area is around 165 acres, mostly in dense brush and wooded areas, including in steep terrain. Approximately 119 single-family homes were in the Level 3 (Go Now) evacuation zone. There were no reported injuries or structure losses due to the fire.

Wider weather episode

Strong high pressure developed over eastern Washington and Oregon, spilling across the Cascades to the lowlands of western Oregon. As a result, strong east winds on Friday brought critical fire weather conditions and above normal temperatures across much of western Oregon. Winds gusted between 20 and 30 mph on Friday, and eased by Saturday.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1058155. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.