Oregon
Wildfires threaten communities in the West as Oregon fire closes interstate, creates its own weather
BELLINGHAM, Wash. — Firefighters in the West are scrambling as new wildfires threaten communities in Oregon, California and Washington, with at least one Oregon fire so large that it is creating its own weather.
Interstate 84 in eastern Oregon was closed in both directions Tuesday between Ontario and Baker City as flames from the Durkee Fire advanced toward the roadway in multiple locations. On Tuesday afternoon, the Oregon Department of Transportation also closed the eastbound lanes of I-84 from Pendleton to Baker City.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Monday night authorized the use of federal funds to help with firefighting costs for the lightning-caused blaze, which had scorched nearly 375 square miles (971 square kilometers) as of Tuesday afternoon.
The Durkee Fire was threatening homes in and around the communities of Durkee, Huntington and Rye Valley, as well as the interstate, cell towers and power infrastructure in the area.
Stephen Parker, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boise, Idaho, said the Durkee Fire showed such extreme fire behavior on Saturday, Sunday and Monday that it began creating its own weather system with a “pyrocumulus cloud.”
“That can happen when a fire becomes plume-dominated,” Parker said. “It’s like a thunderstorm on top of the fire, generated by the heat of the fire.”
The pyrocumulus cloud allows the smoke and ash from the fire to travel much higher in the air than it would typically go, he said. If there is enough moisture in the air above the fire, the pyrocumulus cloud can also generate rain and lightning, potentially causing new fire starts in the region.
There were lightning strikes in the region on Monday night, but there were also other thunderstorms in the area, making it impossible to tell which weather system was responsible for the storm, Parker said.
Tuesday morning was free of pyrocumulus clouds, Parker said, but they tend to form later in the day.
“I don’t see any pyrocumulus developing yet today. But I would not be surprised if we got a fourth day out of it,” he said.
Several new fires ignited in that area Monday because of severe weather that included lightning and strong wind gusts, the Baker County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.
“Within minutes of the first lightning strikes, reports then came in of visible flames,” the post read.
Multiple fires have scorched more than 1,093 square miles (2,830 square kilometers) in Oregon, with nearly 180 square miles (466 square kilometers) torched in the past 24 hours, authorities said.
Parts of the West have also been in the grip of a heat wave, including record-breaking triple-digits temperatures, for days.
A fire in the Columbia River Gorge that started late Monday forced urgent evacuations around the town of Mosier, Oregon, and the entire town of about 400 people was ordered to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice on Tuesday.
In central Washington, a fire that sparked Monday near Natches prompted mandatory evacuations while another near Bickelton also forced evacuations and threatened a natural gas plant.
“This is shaping up to be another monster fire year in the Pacific Northwest, and it’s just mid-July,” Ed Hiatt, Pacific Northwest Assistant Fire Director for Operations at the U.S. Forest Service, said Tuesday in a news release.
Millions of acres of national forest lands across Oregon and Washington are continuing to see record- breaking dry timber conditions on both sides of the Cascade Mountains with no “wetting” rains for more than six weeks in areas from far southern Oregon to the eastern part of the state and north into central Washington, according to the news release.
Fire crews from across the country were coming to the region to help, Hiatt said.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek earlier this month declared an “extended state of emergency” until October because of the increased risk of wildfires.
“I urge all Oregonians to follow the instructions and evacuation levels issued by emergency officials,” she said at the time, while also urging people to subscribe to emergency alerts, to have an evacuation plan, prepare a go-kit, and stay aware of changing conditions.
Near the California-Nevada border, a series of lightning-sparked wildfires in the Sierra forced the evacuation of a recreation area, closed a state highway and was threatening structures Tuesday in several communities southwest of Portola, which is about 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Reno.
Nearly 200 children and staff at a summer camp near Portola voluntarily evacuated on buses back to their homes Sunday night in the Reno-Sparks area.
Heat waves and historic drought tied to climate change have made wildfires more challenging to fight in the American West. Scientists have said climate change has made the region much warmer and drier in the past 30 years and will continue to make the weather more extreme, and wildfires more frequent and destructive.
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Associated Press writers Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho, and Scott Sonner in Reno, Nevada, contributed to this story.
Oregon
Where Oregon Ducks rank in industry recruiting rankings for 2027 class
With the winter evaluation period of high school football recruiting now behind us, we’ve seen some of the top recruiting sites update their rankings over the past few weeks and start to reset their boards for the 2027 class. In February, On3 shifted players around after getting fresh looks at the class, and 247Sports did the same earlier this week.
So with Oregon’s handful of commits getting new ratings, where does the Ducks’ class rank nationally in this cycle?
If you look at sites individually, it looks different, with 247Sports having Oregon sitting at No. 13 in the nation. At Rivals, though, they take the industry ranking, which factors in their own rankings, plus an average from 247Sports and ESPN.
In the industry rankings, Oregon sits at No. 9 in the nation, with five commitments.
Going into the summer months, the Ducks are in a great spot, leading or among the top schools for a handful of the top prospects in the nation, like 5-star QB Will Mencl or 5-star WR Dakota Guerrant. We will see what movement Oregon can make in the coming months after official visits take place early in the summer.
Contact/Follow @Ducks_Wire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinions.
Oregon
New Data Shows Oregon E-Scooter Injuries on the Rise
Data released by the Oregon Health Authority this week suggests Oregonians are getting hurt on electric scooters more every year.
In recent years, according to OHA, an “e-scooter-specific code” was developed for health care tracking purposes.
From 2021 to 2024, annual injury reports under this code from Oregon hospitals and emergency departments jumped from 211 to 418.
And in just the first nine months of 2025, there had been 509 such reports.
“These injuries are not minor scrapes,” said Dagan Wright, an OHA epidemiologist, in a written statement. “They often involve head injuries, broken bones, and other serious trauma that requires emergency or inpatient care.”
The city of Portland signed contracts with three e-scooter rental companies in 2018, as the transportation craze spread across the country. But e-scooter injury diagnosis codes are relatively new in health care reporting, Wright said in the OHA statement.
“While the overall numbers remain smaller than for other transportation-related injuries, the rapid increase over a short period of time is a clear safety signal,” OHA added.
The agency highlighted the story of Portland e-scooter commuter Daniel Pflieger, who it says was riding a scooter home when he reportedly slid on ice. He bruised several ribs.
Sometimes outcomes are worse. OHA identified 17 deaths linked to electric or motorized scooters since 2018, and seven of those occurred in 2025.
OHA says that e-bikes raise many similar safety concerns as e-scooters. The first full year for which e-bike injuries were coded for reporting was 2023. State data shows 392 reported e-bike injuries that year, 683 in 2024, and 760 in the first nine months of 2025.
“Injuries involving e-bikes and e-scooters share common risk factors—speed, lack of helmet use, roadway design, and interactions with motor vehicles,” Wright said.
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Oregon
Oregon women’s basketball playing for March Madness seeding vs. Purdue
Hear Oregon women’s Graves, Etute and Fiso after loss to Washington
The Oregon Ducks women’s basketball team finishes the regular season with a March 1 home loss to Washington.
At times, the Oregon women’s basketball team has certainly made things much harder on themselves than it needs to be. The team has also produced some miraculous comeback victories, putting itself in position to make women’s March Madness for the second straight season.
March 1, in their final regular season game, the Ducks (20-11, 8-10 Big Ten) finished on the wrong end of yet another tight game to Washington, 70-69. It’s the second time this season Oregon has come back from a double-digit deficit, but ended up losing to the Huskies (20-9, 10-8).
Those aren’t the only times Oregon has come back from a double-digit deficit, like it did in wins vs. Nebraska and USC. The No. 11-seed Ducks are hoping they won’t need heroics in a Big Ten tournament first-round game against No. 14 Purdue this Wednesday.
Watch Oregon basketball on Peacock
“I think our biggest weakness this year has been our inconsistency,” coach Kelly Graves said, “something we’ve battled all year. The great thing is our kids know, regardless of the score, we’ve got a chance. We’ll make it a game at some point. As a coach, it drives you nuts. Hopefully we can figure it out and play more consistent basketball.”
Oregon’s volatility has seen it earn three double-digit comeback wins this year, but also blow several games in the final moments.
Against Wisconsin, the Ducks held a 6-point lead with less than a minute remaining, but lost in overtime. Against Illinois, Oregon held a 21-point lead at halftime, blew it in the third quarter, trailed by eight with minutes to play and somehow eked out a win.
That makes UO somewhat of a wild card heading into the conference tournament this week at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
“It’s definitely (been) a rollercoaster,” guard Katie Fiso said. “A lot of highs and a lot of lows. But one thing that I try to see through all games is our grittiness and our toughness. One thing that stays consistent throughout the season is our toughness and our grittiness. The game isn’t over until the last bell rings.”
The Ducks will be taking on a Boilermakers (13-16, 5-13) team that has struggled against most of the top competition in the league, but played Oregon tight in a Feb. 25 Ducks win.
Graves said when the Ducks went throughout the postgame handshake line after, the Boilermakers felt like their season would end after the regular season. Thanks to some upsets, Purdue is in the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 14 seed.
“We’re playing a team that probably feels like it’s playing with house money,” Graves said. “We’ve got to pick ourselves back up and get it done.”
What channel is Oregon vs. Purdue on today in Big Ten tournament?
Oregon will tip off vs. Purdue on Peacock, with no TV option to watch the game.
Oregon vs. Purdue start time in Big Ten tournament
- Date: Wednesday, March 4
- Time: Around 5:30 p.m. PT
Oregon and Purdue will play around 5:30 p.m. PT at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The first game of the day begins at 12:30 p.m. PT, with the next game 25 minutes after the first game ends, and so on. The Ducks play in the third game of the day, so no official tip time is listed.
Oregon women’s basketball schedule 2025-26
Below are the past five games of Oregon’s 2025-26 basketball season. For the full schedule, click here.
| Feb. 15 | Washington 51, Oregon 43 |
| Feb. 19 | Oregon 80, Nebraska 76 |
| Feb. 22 | Indiana 72, Oregon 65 |
| Feb. 25 | Oregon 71, Purdue 65 |
| March 1 | Washington 70, Oregon 69 |
| March 4 | Oregon vs. Purdue (Big Ten tournament) |
Purdue women’s basketball schedule 2025-26
Below are the past five games of Purdue’s 2025-26 basketball season. For the full schedule, click here.
Feb. 14
Purdue 72, Rutgers 57
Feb. 19
Iowa 83, Purdue 74
Feb. 22
Maryland 99, Purdue 66
Feb. 25
Oregon 71, Purdue 65
March 1
Purdue 67, Northwestern 62
March 4
Oregon vs. Purdue (Big Ten tournament)
Alec Dietz covers University of Oregon football and women’s basketball for The Register-Guard. You may reach him at adietz@registerguard.com.
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