Hikers trapped in Oregon wildfire

The Eagle Creek Fire, burning in the Columbia River Gorge, forced hundreds of people to evacuate their homes earlier this week in communities east of Portland, including Warrendale, Dodson and Latourell, and sent ash falling on the city itself.

“It is believed he and others may have been using fireworks, which started the forest fire along the Eagle Creek Trail”, Oregon State Police said in a statement.

Videos posted online by other hikers show police later interviewing two boys who appear to be teenagers near the Eagle Creek Trailhead. The fire is burning in the Columbia River Gorge above Cascade Locks, Ore.

The agency has identified a 15-year-old suspect.

But concern over the sights of one of Oregon’s crown jewels had “kind of obsessed” Paul Gerald, a local author and trails enthusiast who has written guides to hikes in the gorge. The investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing.

The Hood River County Sheriff’s Office says family and friends can reunite with the hikers at the Eagle Creek Fish Hatchery.

“Our hearts are breaking”, Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury said at a news conference.

But, she said, “they kept on walking down the trail”.

The Centers for Disease Control said wildfire smoke is especially risky for people with heart and lung diseases like asthma, KOIN-TV reports.

About 140 hikers were forced to spend the night outside near Tunnel Falls after a fire broke out near the Columbia River Gorge trail.

The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise is mobilizing active duty military personnel to serve as firefighters to assist with wildfire suppression efforts. “That’s when I immediately started taking pics of the fire”, Madison told RT.com. “The training is expected to conclude by Saturday, September 9th, and the soldiers are expected to begin working on a wildfire on Sunday, September 10th”, Jones stated.

I looked and saw smoke, but I thought it was just the trail from the smoke from the smoke bomb. She says the Forest Service employee told her the group admitted to setting off fireworks. “We literally are waiting until the smoke clears to go out and assess what’s there, what we’ve lost and then try to move on from there”.

A girl, who was with the group of teens, said, “Oh s***”, FitzGerald recalled.

She ran back to the parking lot, telling people she passed on the trail to turn around. A Portland woman witnessed the scene and sounded the alarm, she tells Oregon Public Broadcasting. “If you do see flames, please report it to 911 and crews will check it out”. A short while later, she saw the area filled with billowing smoke. “It smelled like the fire in my fireplace. I could see all of this smoke billowing up”. Further, the bill would provide resources to clean up after forest fires and restore the forests with new trees for another generation. They can be reached at 503-375-3555.

Due to “extreme fire behavior”, the fire could spread rapidly or behave in unpredictable ways, NWCC experts said.