It's been incredibly hot and dry here in the Cascades, and the wildfires in Oregon have been busy! There are a number of wildfires right down the road from the Andrews that are keeping us on high alert, and the whole Willamette Valley is completely socked in with smoke.
Look at all these fires!
Right now, the main concern is the smoke in the area. Here's a satellite image of Oregon from yesterday:
That's right, those aren't clouds covering the majority of Oregon. It's smoke.
The smoke forecasts in McKenzie Bridge (just a 6 miles down the road) for Monday and Tuesday were hazardous and very unhealthy. And boy, can you feel it in your eyes and your lungs. We've experienced instant headaches as soon as we stepped out into the field, so we've postponed checking cameras until the smoke disperses.
Here's what that looks like on the ground:
In terms of fire danger, the HJ Andrews looks like its not in any immediate danger right now from the current fires. As of yesterday, Belknap Hot Springs and residences along highway 242 have been ordered to evacuate. Rainbow and McKenzie are have Level 1 (get ready) and Level 2 (get set) preparedness warnings, but have not been ordered to evacuate yet. Lightening is in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow though, so we've prepared our go bags, just in case.
If you're interested in learning more or keeping up to date with the wildfires in Oregon, here are some great resources:
The Oregon Smoke Blog - http://oregonsmoke.blogspot.com/
InciWeb (Willamette National Forest Incidents) - https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/unit/3860/
AirNow (EPA) - https://www.airnow.gov/