Wildfires continued to burn Thursday from Lincoln City to around the Idaho border, challenging firefighters trying protect communities from the onslaught. Many of the most damaging fires, however, have hit the forested areas in the Willamette Valley and Southern Oregon, burning hundreds of structures and sending residents fleeing from their homes and communities.

Below are snapshot of some the fires burning around the state as of Thursday. For updated information, visit inciweb.nwcg.gov

In Washington County, the PowerLine Fire near Henry Hagg Lake continued burning for a third day Thursday and still poses a “direct threat” to nearby homes.

About 100 personnel were working Thursday on the PowerLine Fire, according to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, which said it expects fire operations will continue for days. Hagg Lake, west of Forest Grove, is firefighters’ primary water source for battling the blaze and so it remains closed to recreation.

Aerial “water bombers” assisted Wednesday as well, dumping hundreds of gallons of water on the fire.

A separate, larger wildfire in Washington County had burned about 2,000 acres on Thursday. Firefighters said late Wednesday they had the Chehalem Mountain-Bald Peak Fire 50% contained, too.

That fire, north of Newberg, prompted “Level 3” immediate evacuation orders in parts of southern Washington County and northern Yamhill County.

In Clackamas County, where there are four active wildfires, 16 houses had been lost as of Wednesday, and an additional 211 other structures, including mobile homes, barns, storage facilities and other buildings, had been damaged or destroyed. More than 940 other homes and structures within the county remain threatened by the fires.

The county is tracking four major fires: the Riverside Fire, which moved within two miles of Estacada on Wednesday, the Dowty Road Fire, also near Estacada, the Unger Road Fire in the Colton area and the Wilhoit Fire in the Molalla area.

The largest is the Riverside Fire, which started near the Riverside campground along the Clackamas River, and had grown to 112,000 acres by Wednesday night.

The other three fires had burned through a combined 3,450 acres as of Wednesday night, according to the county.

The entire county is under some level of evacuation warning with more than half the county, including Estacada and parts of Molalla, under a Level 3 evacuation order, meaning residents are asked to leave immediately.

In Lincoln County, a complex of wildfires have burned more than 2,400 acres and prompted evacuations in Lincoln City, state fire officials reported. It’s now believed to have been caused by human activity and has destroyed at least 12 homes.

Three fires converged and are now called the Echo Mountain Complex, being fought by nearly 200 firefighters.

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office was working on reentry plans for evacuated residents.

On Wednesday, rapid spread to the south and east prompted the immediate evacuation of the northern tip of Lincoln City. Much of the rest of the city was under a Level 2 “get set” evacuation order, meaning residents might have to leave at a moment’s notice. The Oregon Department of Transportation had closed state Highway 8 and U.S. 101 in the area.

In Southern Oregon, authorities were investigating the a fire as an arson after discovering human remains in Ashland, the city police chief said.

The Ashland Police Department, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and Oregon State Police arson investigators are investigating the nature of the death of the person found, according to Ashland Police Chief Tighe O’Meara.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency late Wednesday authorized the use of federal funds for firefighting costs for the Almeda Glendower Fire, which started on Tuesday and had burned about 600 homes and more than 3,000 acres of private land at the time of the state’s request for federal aid.

The {a href=”https://mailtribune.com/news/top-stories/sheriff-confirms-death-investigation-where-almeda-fire-started”}Medford Mail Tribune{/a} quoted Jackson County Sheriff Nate Sickler as saying the remains found in Ashland might not be the only fatality from the fire that ravaged Talent and Phoenix and threatened parts of Medford.

This report contains information from