A massive 70,000-acre wildfire burning east of The Dalles, Ore. is putting the region’s wheat harvest in jeopardy as farmers rush to save their crop from the fast-moving and unpredictable blaze.
The Substation fire started July 17 and grew quickly to become the top priority wildfire in the U.S. Authorities say the cause is “incendiary in nature,” and one Wasco County farmer has died trying to fight the fire.
Firefighting is part of the job for wheat farmers in north-central Oregon, especially around harvest with heavy machinery working in dry, combustible fields. But Darren Padget, a farmer in Grass Valley, said they have never seen anything like the Substation fire.
“We’ve had plenty of fires before,” Padget said. “(This) was unlike anything we’ve ever seen out here.”
Gov. Kate Brown declared the fire a conflagration on July 18, pulling in resources from across the state to contain the blaze. As of July 20, 278 firefighters from 73 agencies had arrived on scene and had the fire 15 percent contained.
The Wasco County Sheriff’s Office identified John Ruby, 64, as the man who died in the fire. Ruby’s body was found near a burned tractor, and he was reportedly trying to protect his neighbor’s property by digging a firebreak.
Padget, who also serves as a member of the Oregon Wheat Commission, said Ruby’s death was a tragedy. It is normal for farmers in the area to team up and help fight fires, he said, keeping water trucks and disc plows on hand for such emergencies.
“The first thing you do is get the discs going,” Padget said. “Normally, that would be enough to slow it down.”
The Substation fire, however, raced 18 miles its first run, feasting on standing wheat, grass and brush in Wasco and Sherman counties, fanned by wind gusts of 35 mph. Padget said the smoke was so thick he could barely see his hand in front of his face, and flames jumped over fire lines “like they weren’t even there.”
“We didn’t know what the right move was, at times,” he said.
Alan von Borstel, a fellow Grass Valley farmer, told the Associated Press that it has been day after day of horrendous winds, and the fire also creates its own wind.
“As the fire gets closer, you actually start to feel threatened, and if it gets too close, we realize we can’t do it, (and) we get the hell out of Dodge,” von Borstel said.
Brian Tuck, the local dryland crops specialist for Oregon State University Extension Service, said wheat harvest began earlier this month but has been interrupted by the fire while growers feverishly work to protect their crop.
Tuck said he is not certain how many acres of unharvested wheat have burned, but commiserates that some farms in the two counties were anticipating higher-than-average yields thanks to timely spring rains. Fields that normally would have cut 55-60 bushels per acre may have yielded upwards of 80-90 bushels per acre, he said.
“The sad part is this (fire) is burning up a bunch of wheat that wasn’t harvested,” Tuck said.
Per the 2012 Census of Agriculture, Sherman and Wasco counties grow a combined 186,135 acres of wheat. The predominant variety, soft white wheat, is used to make things like cakes and crackers, and most of the crop is exported to Asia. The current price for soft white wheat trading out of Portland is $5.90 per bushel.
Firefighters are targeting Aug. 3 to have the Substation fire fully contained. Once the fire is extinguished, Tuck said the main concern will shift to soil erosion on the charred landscape, stripping fields of vital nutrients.
“Erosion for this winter is going to be a concern,” he said. “If we avoid a hard, severe winter, that will be to our advantage.”
Wes Jennings, farm program chief for the USDA Farm Service Agency in Oregon, said they do offer emergency relief for farmers and ranchers, but it is still too early to tell which programs will kick in after the fire.
“It’s going to be on a case-by-case basis,” Jennings said. He advised producers to call their local county FSA offices as soon as possible to determine the next steps to take. Wheat farmers will likely have to lean on crop insurance, he said.
Neither Padget nor von Borstel have lost any wheat to the fire, but they know how quickly that can change. Farmers will continue to look out for one another, von Borstel told the AP.
“Without the help of the farmers, this thing wouldn’t get stopped,” he said.
Padget said their number one priority is to protect themselves, their neighbors and their livelihood.
“We’ll be talking about this for a long, long time to come,” Padget said.
Anyone with information about the Substation fire is asked to call the Oregon State Police tip line at 1-800-452-7888.