A wildfire burning in the Cherry Grove area has prompted the closure of Hagg Lake to allow for aircraft to land and draw water to fight the fire burning south of the lake.
A wildfire burning in the Cherry Grove area has prompted the closure of Hagg Lake to allow for aircraft to land and draw water to fight the fire burning south of the lake.
"Staff from Washington County Parks and the Washington County Sheriff's Office will be at the lake to assist recreational visitors," the Washington County Sheriff's Office said.
This is a developing story and more information will be published as it becomes available.
The Oregon Department of Forestry said the Lee Falls Fire was 100% lined Friday night, keeping the fire at 280 acres. "With control lines established around the fire, and many areas plumbed with fire hose, the arduous process of mop up begins," the Oregon Department of Forestry said.
The Lee Falls Fire, threatening homes in Cherry Grove, is now estimated at up to 250 acres, the Oregon Department of Forestry said, while Gaston Rural Fire District estimated it at 200 acres in a late night update Thursday.
"Basically, every fire agency in Washington County came to respond to it," Stefan Myers, a TVF&R PIO speaking on behalf of Gaston Fire said. The 100+ acre fire has prompted evacuations, a Hagg Lake closure and brought more than 100 firefighters to the region.
A proposed toll road linking Forest Grove and Tillamook faced opposition, but Gales Creek residents would take any road they could get, according to a 1925 newspaper article.
"County Jail Filled to Overflow With Arrests Made" including Ernest Narver, Frank Kearns, Thomas Young, and Roy Kearns, all arrested at Balm Grove on liquor possession charges in Prohibition-era Gales Creek.
People are shooting exploding targets and firing hot lead into dry vegetation in the Tillamook Forest with predictable results: Five wildfires since May. These fires are all preventable, said Acting Forest Grove District Forester Stephanie Beall.
