A second home has burned in a fire on the flanks of Mount Hood (OR) outside The Dalles, where the winds that make the Columbia Gorge a destination for windsurfers are making the job of corralling a wildfire tougher for firefighters. The cost has already topped $1 million, reports The Associated Press.
Oregon Department of Forestry spokesman Dave Morman said Tuesday the Government Flat Fire doubled to 10 square miles and one of about 50 homes evacuated in the area of canyons 10 miles southwest of The Dalles burned on Monday. Five other structures have burned.
“That’s one of the challenges when the fire gets into these long canyons, it’s very, very difficult for firefighters,” he said. “When it gets in those side draws, you can try, but you have problems with rolling debris. The fire easily spreads on those slopes, and then you get a 30 mph wind.”
With 714 personnel and seven helicopters fighting the fire, the cost has hit $1.4 million after four days, Morman said. Many are structural fire crews called in from surrounding counties after the governor declared the fires a conflagration.
Read more of the story herehttp://bit.ly/1f0H0WG
