What started as a brush fire Thursday, Aug. 8, quickly became one of the largest fires in Washington County in recent memory.

The Lee Falls Fire burned approximately 290 acres near Gaston and the community of Cherry Grove, south of Henry Hagg Lake. At its peak, around 600 people were forced to evacuate their homes Thursday as conditions caused the flames to quickly spread.

Residents were allowed to return to their homes Saturday, Aug. 10 — none of which were reported damaged by the blaze. The area remained in a Level 2 (Get set) evacuation order as of Monday, Aug. 12.

By Sunday, Aug. 11, the fire was 25% contained and 100% lined, according to the Oregon Department of Forestry. The fire being 25% contained means that the lines around the fire have held for more than 24 hours and that firefighters are confident that the blaze will not escape from those areas. The fire being 100% lined means that firefighters have dug trenches around the entire perimeter of the flames in an attempt to keep it from spreading.

The increasing containment allowed many of the emergency response teams to demobilize, signaling that the severity of the fire was waning. One of ODF’s incident management teams remained on scene Sunday to help with mop up operations. Ground crews and one helicopter would continue working the fire and mop-up efforts to increase containment before the final efforts are turned over to the Forest Grove District of ODF, the agency said Sunday.

At its height, 45 firefighters and 15 pieces of equipment, including bulldozers to dig fire lines, were in use to prevent the destruction of buildings and homes, according to acting Gaston Fire District spokesperson Gert Zoutendijk on Friday, Aug. 9. The total number of fire personnel and work crews was not noted at that time.

A tough spot for the blaze

Zoutendijk said some of the issues in attacking the fire was the terrain it was in, while another hang up was the rural community the fire was baring down on.

“There’s only maybe a dozen streets and roads, they’re very small narrow. Trying to maneuver all that and evacuate people — very challenging,” Zoutendijk said Friday.

In total, four injuries were reported: During the initial attack, two firefighters and one community members sustained minor injuries, according to the fire department. The firefighters were treated on scene, and the community member chose to drive themselves to receive additional treatment.

With aircraft actively dipping into Henry Hagg Lake for water to cool the fire, the recreation site encompassed in Scoggins Valley Park was closed Thursday through Sunday, Aug. 11. The park reopened to recreators Monday, Aug. 12.

A look back

The Lee Falls Fire reached 290 acres in total, over twice as large as the 2020 Powerline Fire that damaged a similar area and sent residents evacuating. As for the Lee Falls Fire, the cause remains under investigation.

Also in recent memory, was the Chehalem Mountain-Bald Peak fire, which raged from Sept. 8, through Sept. 14, 2020, burning an estimated 2,000 acres of property west of Sherwood and north of Newberg. It was caused by a campfire on private property.

A decade ago, the Scoggins Creek Fire burned 211 acres of land — all of it forestland owned by Stimson Lumber. The cause of that fire is unknown, but the firefighting effort cost $2 million and took the combined efforts on the ground of nearly 500 people, including firefighters from the Oregon Department of Forestry and fire agencies across western Oregon, as well as inmate work crews.

Zoutendijk issued a warning as the fire efforts were still largely underway: Just because you live in the Portland area, doesn’t mean a fire isn’t possible.

“It happens in our backyard,” Zoutendijk said. “It doesn’t have to happen in Eastern Oregon. Everybody should really be prepared in case something happens, no matter what it is — wildfire like we have now, earthquake, floodings, winter events.

“We have those things here in the Portland metro area. Being prepared overall is huge.”

Meanwhile, across Oregon

After a week of evacuations, smoke and worry about the growing Elk Lane Fire near Madras, the blaze is beginning to come under control. The fire that started Aug. 4 had burned approximately 5,176 acres from an initial lightning strike on the top of Willow Creek Canyon. As of Saturday, the fire was 55% contained.

Meanwhile, in the mix with the Lee Falls Fire, a 5-acre fire closed Highway 99E in both directions Friday, Aug. 9, and prompted a Level 3 evacuation for a small area between Oregon City and Canby. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The largest fire currently burning in Oregon is the Durkee Fire near Vale. It began on July 17 and is now 95% contained. That fire has burned 294,265 acres.