Wildfire — Western Columbia River Gorge, Oregon

2017-09-02 to 2017-09-30 · Western Columbia River Gorge, Oregon

Event narrative

Eagle Creek Fire started September 2nd and grew rapidly over the next few days. Ultimately the fire burned 48,831 acres of forest in the Columbia River Gorge. The fire caused I-84 to close for 19 days from September 4th through September 23rd, and the Historic Columbia River Highway will likely remain closed for months in this area.

Wider weather episode

After a very dry summer, a teen with fireworks started a wildfire on September 2nd in the Eagle Creek area of the Columbia River Gorge. East winds over the over the following days spread the fire westward rapidly and sent heavy smoke into the Portland and Vancouver metropolitan areas.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 722050. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.