Oregon’s wildfire season surges

Oregon's wildfire season intensified this past week after thousands of lightning strikes ignited dozens of fires across the state — leaving some regions with the worst wildfire smoke in the country.

The latest: The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality issued an air quality advisory for the Portland metro area through at least 8pm tonight

• More than 600,000 acres were actively burning as of yesterday afternoon, already topping Oregon's total for all of last year.
• The largest fires are concentrated in Central Oregon. Roughly 1,000 people were under Level 3 "Go Now" evacuation orders this week, while air-quality advisories covered 12 counties.

What we're watching: More thunderstorms, triple-digit heat and dry conditions are on the way. Much of the central and eastern parts of the state are under significant fire potential through Saturday.

• The Oregon Department of Forestry recently said all of its available fire crews are already stretched thin fighting existing blazes. Both California and Washington have sent extra firefighters to assist.
• Officials said our warm, dry winter was responsible for current conditions.