Oregon's 100-Year Fire

Smoke plumes billow 12,000 feet above the forest in Southwest Oregon. Major wildfires were burning on more than 438,610 acres in the state on Aug. 1, battled by nearly 13,000 firefighters.

Caesar, an African Lion living at an animal sanctuary in Cave Junction, Ore., won't enter his traveling cage during a practice evacuation Aug. 1. If the Florence fire does overrun the Illinois Valley, sanctuary owners say they're prepared to defend Caesar from the flames.

Jody Rains, left, chats with Tom Edmunds and Mike Smith, right, all from Selma, Ore., as they watch billowing smoke from the backburning, Aug. 2.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., center, fields local residents' questions about the Florence fire and wildfire prevention, Aug. 3. The spate of fires has ignited tensions between environmentalists and some normally supportive Democrats like Wyden.

Jim and Susie Wood watch as a Florence fire burnout blaze advances over a ridge bordering their property near O'Brien, Ore., Aug. 4.

Firefighter Lance Tupman, left, buys a fire T-shirt from River Rat Fire T's owner Arlene Ascherin at the entrance to fire camp in Selma, Ore., Aug. 4. Ascherin and her husband follow fires, selling memorabilia from their large trailer which has a full silk-screening operation set up inside.

Vern Smithson watches smoke from the Florence fire creep closer to his new dream retirement home south of Agness, Ore., Aug. 6. Smithson and his wife just moved in January and have been forced to take most of their furniture out to safe storage.

The Florence fire burns on Silver Peak, Aug. 8. The fire grew from lightning strikes on July 13 into the biggest active wildfire in the nation.

The sun rises over the fire base camp near Brookings, Ore., Aug. 9.

A bird flies over Harris Beach on the Pacific Ocean as the sun sets through smoke from the Florence fire, Aug. 9.

Chetco River Valley resident Mark Steele works with firefighter Peter D'Aquanni to hook a boatload of his belongings to a friend's truck, Aug. 10.

Firefighter Ted Briggs works to build a fire line around the Biscuit fire, Aug. 11.

Ready to battle the Biscuit fire, pilot Janie Foster does a preflight check on her Sikorsky S-61 helicopter in Weederburn, Ore., Aug. 12.

The Chetco River Valley is shrouded in smoke from the Biscuit fire, Aug. 12. The fire is Oregon's largest in more than a century.

Springfield and Eugene firefighters battle a stubborn blaze between the east- and westbound lanes of Interstate 105, Aug. 13. The fire sent a plume of smoke over both cities and snarled commuter traffic.

Cormorants perched on a snag near Lake Ewauna are silhouetted as the sun rises over a smoke-filled sky in Klamath Falls, Ore., Aug. 14.