A wildfire burns on a small hill near Hagg Lake in the Cherry Grove community in Washington County on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024. The fire forced people out of their homes and injured two people, including a firefighter. (KATU)
GASTON, Ore. (KATU) — People in the small community of Cherry Grove were ordered to leave their homes Thursday evening as a brush fire burned near Hagg Lake in Washington County.
About 500 people live in that community.
“There is a lot of smoke. It’s really near to the house. So, we’re just a little bit concerned," Cherry Grove resident Luis Montoya told KATU.
He was trying to return home to get animals he left behind.
"We just dropped off a couple of things. The most important thing is family, and we got them covered,” he said.
A KATU crew spotted many people leaving the area, but others were trying to get in to help friends and family.
“We’ve got some friends back in the valley with horses. They can leave, but they can’t get the horses out. So, we’re going in to get them," said Jason Mitchell. “If a neighbor needs help, you help them. They need some help. We’ve got horses, and if we were in the position, we’d want somebody to help us.”
However, deputies were not allowing most people into the evacuation zone.
Also under Level 3 (Go Now) evacuation orders are SW Oak ST and SW Nixon DR.
West of Lee Rd. and South of SW Sain Creek Rd. were raised to Level 3 at 6:30 p.m. North of SW Sain Creek Rd to SW Scoggins Valley RD, to SW Stepien Rd were under a Level 1 (Be Ready) order.
According to Oregon Emergency Management, nearly 400 structures are within the Level 3 evacuation zone.
Two people were injured, one of them was a firefighter.
The fire was more than 100 acres in size and 0% contained early Thursday evening.
Piseth Pisch, spokesperson for Hillsboro Fire & Rescue, said early Thursday afternoon that authorities notified people in 18 homes that there was a fire threat nearby.
"There are no structures burned at this time, although it is within 100 yards of some of those homes," he said.
Temperatures were in the 90s Thursday, making the work for firefighters challenging.
The firefighter who was injured did not need to go to the hospital, but a civilian was taken to a hospital. The extent of the injuries of both people was not immediately known.
The Washington County Sheriff's Office said Hagg Lake was closed so airplanes could dip into it for water. The park was also closed.
Authorities were still trying to figure out the cause of the fire.