Wildfire — North Oregon Cascades Foothills, Oregon

2020-09-07 to 2020-09-30 · North Oregon Cascades Foothills, Oregon

Event narrative

The Beachie Creek wildfire started around 1100PDT on August 16, 2020 in Marion county, OR at coordinates 44.821, -122.188. The fire grew to approximately 193,500 acres before being declared officially under control on December 2, 2020. Destroyed were 486 residential homes, 36 non-residential commercial properties, 801 other minor structures. There were 160 structures damaged. Affected were the towns of Mill City, Gates, Lyons, and Detroit. During this conflagration 33388 people were evacuated, 5 citizens were fatally injured; and 2 citizens and 8 responders were injured. The cause of the fire is unknown. This fire is also known as the Santiam Fire.

Wider weather episode

After a period of upper level ridging brought a return to above normal temperatures in early September, very strong easterly downslope and offshore winds off the Cascades and Coastal Ranges occurred. Winds increased rapidly during the afternoon and evening of September 7 with the passage of an unseasonably strong backdoor cold front, and persisted through much of the following day. This resulted in extremely critical fire weather conditions when the strong winds combined with extremely low relative humidity and exceptionally dry existing fuel conditions. The result was explosive growth of ongoing wildfires, and the new start and explosive spread of numerous new wildfires. Widespread wind gusts from 50-70 mph were common on ridge tops and numerous other in exposed areas, including portions of the greater Portland metro area, the Willamette Valley, and areas of the Oregon coast. Strong winds caused widespread damage to trees, and downed numerous power lines across the region, which started at least 13 additional wildfires. Large portions of the cities of Detroit, Mehama, and Gates were destroyed, and significant portions of Idanha, Mill City, and Lyons also burned. Resultant large wildfires included these named incidents - In Oregon: Beachie Creek, Chehalem Mountain/Bald Peak, Riverside, and Lionshead, and in Washington: Big Hollow. Rapidly spreading wildfires resulted in multiple fatalities, hundreds of displaced persons for many weeks, and billions of dollars in damage.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 929780. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.