Under smoky skies just north of the Columbia River, a weary-eyed crowd gathered around Hood River County Sheriff Matt English.
More than 80 people were sheltered Monday afternoon at the Red Cross center set up on fairgrounds in Stevenson, Washington, a few miles north of Cascade Locks. The crowd ranged from woodworkers living in the small Gorge town to Pacific Crest Trail hikers from Germany, but on Monday, they had one thing in common: Thanks to the Eagle Creek Fire, they had nowhere else to go.
English gave the crowd an update on the fire, which had grown to 3,200 acres since it started Saturday: Much of the surrounding area was still under varying levels of evacuation warnings. The fire was still just outside Cascade Locks. He still didn't know when residents could return home.
The Eagle Creek fire was zero percent contained Monday and crews prepared for the fire to move west as easterly winds are forecasted to pick up Monday night.
The blaze in the popular Columbia River Gorge hiking area was likely caused by illegal fireworks, Oregon State Police said Monday. Troopers have identified a teenage suspect who could face arson charges.
A state police spokesman said no arrests had been made and declined to give more information, citing an active investigation.
The Red Cross shelter sprang up at the Hedgewald Center in Stevenson early Sunday morning after more than 280 people were evacuated from their homes in the southern part of Cascade Locks. Another 118 people in the northern part of town were placed on a Level 2 evacuation, which means they need to be ready to leave at a moment's notice.
About 200 others in Cascade Locks are under a Level 1 evacuation notice, which means they should be aware of fire danger and watch for alerts. Officials have also issued Level 1 notices for Bonneville, Warrendale and Dodson.
On Sunday night, 81 people slept at the shelter, said Cyndi Dahl, the Red Cross executive director for central and eastern Oregon. About 65 slept outside in tents and RVs, and another 16 slept inside on cots. A fairground barn sheltered about 35 pets.
Despite the growing wildfire across the river, many at the shelter were in good spirits.
Edward Jaska, a woodworker from Cascade Locks, and Auna Godinez, a Pacific Crest Trail hiker, laughed together at a picnic table outside the shelter as Jaska showed off his crafts.
Jaska was evacuated from Cascade Locks at 4 a.m. Sunday, along with his wife and their five Chihuahuas, Pico, Randy, Little Man, Little Girl and Sheba. They filled their van with Jaska's wooden carvings, as well as a box of family memorabilia saved in an old wooden Anheuser-Busch box.
"Before we left our house, we could see the individual trees burning," Jaska said. But, he's not too worried about the fire. He trusts the firefighters will be able to put it out before the flames reach his home, he said.
Jaska and his wife have lived in Cascade Locks for 15 years after they moved from Los Angeles.
"We moved up here to get away from the heat and the smoke," he said. "But it came back to us."
Tom Gunn, who lives in a Cascade Locks RV park, arrived at the shelter Monday afternoon. Though park residents had been told to evacuate Sunday morning, Gunn wasn't too worried. He'd spent most of his life in Boise, Idaho, where wildfires were the norm, he said.
"This isn't the first time we've gone through it," he said.
But by Monday, the swirling winds and heavy smoke was too much to ignore.
"It was just too smoky over there," Gunn said. "It was getting hard to breathe."
The nearby Indian Creek fire is more than 1,000 acres and is 10 percent contained, according to InciWeb.
The Red Cross is preparing for more people seeking shelter as the Eagle Creek fire grows, said Dahl, the Red Cross director.
"We anticipate being here for a little while," she said. "It just depends on the fire."
(c)2017 The Oregonian (Portland, Ore.)
