Massive McKinny Fire near California border funnels smoke into Oregon; Tolo Fire now 41 acres

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ORIGINAL STORY

Story updated at 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 30

A rapidly-growing wildfire just 6 miles south of the Oregon and California state line was spewing smoke into Oregon Saturday morning while Oregon's largest wildfire grew to 41 acres, with major wildfire danger expected over the coming three days.

Red flag warnings have been issued across the length of southern Oregon due to "abundant lightning" that could spread as far north as the Three Sisters and Bend area later in the weekend.

Related:'Abundant lightning.' Heat gives way to extreme wildfire danger in south, central Oregon

McKinny Fire brings evacuations, thick smoke on California border

The McKinny Fire roared to life overnight and has grown to an estimated 29,678 acres between Yreka and Happy Camp in California. Multiple evacuations have been ordered and Highway 96 was closed.

"Firefighters were forced to shift from an offensive perimeter control effort to evacuations, point protection and structure defense," Klamath National Forest said in a news release. "Another day of very active fire behavior is anticipated with very hot temps in the forecast."

Smoke from the fire was spreading across the border and dropping ash and turning the sky red in the Illinois Valley near Cave Junction. Air quality dropped to moderate but is expected to worsen given the amount of smoke being put into the air, said Brett Lutz, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Medford.

In addition to McKinny, the China2 Fire is also burning and has grown to 350 acres in the same area of Klamath National Forest, which was raked by lightning strikes late last week.

Tolo Mountain Fire

The largest fire in Oregon is the Tolo Mountain Fire, just outside of the Mount Thielsen Wilderness in the Diamond Lake area. The fire grew to 41 acres by Saturday morning, according to Central Oregon Fire. It is 0% contained.

The fire is about 3 miles from the Pacific Crest Trail, moving north roughly parallel to the trail. No closures have been issued yet, officials said.

Numerous hot shot teams and aircraft dropping water and retardant were dispatched Friday afternoon when activity increased and two spot fires escaped preliminary containment lines.

"Firefighters were able to construct fire line around the approximately 5-acre spot fire and that line held through the night," according to a Saturday morning report. "Air tankers dropped retardant on a second spot to the east of the 5-acre spot and crews will be constructing containment lines around it today."

Continued hot and dry conditions will challenge suppression efforts over the weekend with forecasted triple digit temperatures, relative humidity in the single digits and critically dry fuels, the report said.

"There’s also a chance for thunderstorms in the area, which will likely bring breezy conditions to the fire area in the afternoon," the report said.

Nearby Crescent Lake is being used as a dip site for helicopters dropping water on the blaze. Individuals in the area are advised to use caution.

Kassidy Kern, public affairs officer for the Ochoco National Forest and Crooked River National Grasslands, said the Tolo Mountain fire has not yet threatened any structures and there are no evacuations in effect.

"It's pretty far out there, and we have local aircraft flying in to help the firefighters on the ground," Kern said. “We are at a high risk for significant wildfire potential now, due to the significant drought and critically low fuel moisture,” she added.

Smaller fires burn in Sky Lakes Wilderness

In terms of active fires, Southern Oregon's Rogue-River Siskiyou National Forest had three fires burning Thursday. The Pond and Slide Fires in the Sky Lakes Wilderness are all an acre or smaller while the Wrangle Fire are all smaller than 2 acres.

Fire teams prepare for more lightning

The Oregon Department of Forestry said it was prepared for additional ignitions through the weekend with more thunderstorms in the forecast.

Forest service officials said additional resources were being brought in to provide aggressive initial attacks against small fires due to forecasted hot and dry conditions.

The State Fire Marshal is pre-positioning a structural taskforce of firefighters and equipment in Klamath County over the coming weekend.

"The public is encouraged to practice extreme caution when recreating outdoors and to follow fire restrictions strictly," the agency said in a news release.

For the most up to date information about active fire, restrictions and evacuations in central Oregon, visit centraloregonfire.org.

Skyla Patton is an outdoor reporter and multimedia storyteller. She can be reached at spatton@gannett.com and on Twitter @ganjajournalist.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: McKinny Fire funnels smoke into Oregon; Tolo Fire now 41 acres