OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — There are 18 large fires burning in Oregon and Washington and nearly 5,000 people on the ground fighting them in both states.
Thousands of residents in Oregon are without power after utilities did targeted shutoffs to prevent sparks in dry and windy conditions.
In Washington state, the Goat Rocks Fire, south of Mount Rainier National Park, was started by lightning and has led to the closure of U.S. Highway 12 and the evacuation of neighborhoods east of the city of Packwood.
Evacuations were also issued for several communities in Cowlitz County in response to the Kalama fire in Gifford Pinchot National Forest southwest of Mount St. Helens.
