Clackamas County wildfire still completely uncontained, but growth slowing
The Riverside wildfire ravaging Clackamas County expanded to more than 132,000 acres Saturday afternoon and remained within a half mile of the small city of Estacada, but the fire’s growth has slowed considerably.
The U.S. Forest Service said the fire was still completely uncontained Saturday afternoon, with 246 people fighting the blaze.
“Favorable weather continues to limit the type of rapid fire growth seen on the early days of the wildfire,” the Forest Service said in an afternoon update. “However, conditions remain extremely dangerous with active fire across thousands of acres in and around the fire perimeter.”
All of Clackamas County remained under an evacuation notice Saturday afternoon with the communities of Estacada, Molalla under Level 3 “Evacuate now” orders. Oregon City and Canby remained on Level 2 alert, meaning residents face “significant danger” and should be set to leave at a moment’s notice.
Statewide, wildfires have burned an astonishing 1 million acres this week alone and killed at least seven. Dozens remain unaccounted for.
The Riverside fire was at 130,000 acres Friday, so it didn’t expand much overnight. The fire had presented an imminent threat to the Estacada on Thursday, when firefighters were battling it on a 36-mile front.
But dry east winds that had fueled the fire’s growth gave way Friday to cooler, damper ocean breezes from the west. That has given firefighters the opportunity to begin making headway.
On Saturday afternoon, Portland General Electric said it has begun turning on power near Mount Hood after shutting it off in the area Monday to prevent powerlines from sparking wildfires. Clackamas County was under a 10 p.m. curfew on Thursday and Friday.
The Riverside fire has displaced thousands, who set up camp this week in RVs and tents, seeking refuge in shopping center parking lots, a fraternal lodge and the Oregon Convention Center in Portland. Clackamas County spans suburban housing developments, rural farms and dense forestland. Evacuees and farm organizations are scrambling to find accommodations for livestock and pets.
There is enormous concern among evacuees about potential looting. Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts said Friday that authorities had extra patrols in the evacuated areas but that patrols were encountering few people in those places. The sheriff’s office did arrest two people earlier in the week for trespassing.
The Forest Service classifies the Riverside Fire as “human-caused” but hasn’t released any specifics. Authorities in Clackamas County and across the state have been fighting social media hoaxes that assert, falsely, that extremist groups were responsible for some of the fires engulfing Oregon this week.
The FBI and local law enforcement agencies have repeatedly rejected those assertions. On Saturday, the Clackamas County Sheriff’s office placed a deputy on leave after he was recorded making spurious claims about left-wing extremists and the fires.
“There’s a lot of lives at stake and there’s a lot of people’s property at stake because these guys got some vendetta,” Deputy Mark Nikolai said on the video.
“As soon as I was made aware of this incident, I moved swiftly to place this deputy on leave while we investigate,” Sheriff Craig Roberts said in a statement Saturday. “The Sheriff’s Office mission is to provide calm and safety especially during unprecedented times such as these. I expect nothing less of our deputies, and apologize to all in our community.”