The Cram fire in central Oregon, which is threatening 653 structures, most of them homes, has grown to 95,631 acres, making it the largest wildfire of the year so far in the United States.
The blaze expanded in recent days, growing from more than 20,000 acres on Wednesday, amid blustery weather and low humidity. Moister air and calmer winds are expected to blunt some of the fire’s growth over the weekend.
“Right now, we’re looking really good,” Gert Zoutendijk, a spokesman for the Oregon State Fire Marshal Services, said on Saturday morning. “The fire has slowed down tremendously. It’s the first morning that we’re not seeing a huge plume of smoke.”
The Cram fire started on Sunday near Willowdale, Ore., which is about 135 miles southeast of Portland. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Fanned by winds, the fire tore through rangeland and grassland across an area dotted with farms, destroying four homes and two other structures.
Gov. Tina Kotek of Oregon declared a state of emergency on Wednesday and said the state was experiencing a “devastating wildfire season that will have lasting consequences.”
Measured by acres, the Cram fire leads the list of wildfires so far this season, followed by the Madre fire in California, which has burned nearly 81,000 acres, according to InciWeb, which tracks wildfires.
As of Saturday, seven fires were burning in Oregon, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
A cold front moving through Oregon on Friday kicked up wind gusts up to 30 miles per hour.
The winds, combined with bone-dry air and temperatures in the 90s, prompted the National Weather Service to issue a red flag warning, which indicates weather and vegetation conditions that can lead to rapid wildfire spread.
Amid the critical fire weather, the Cram fire’s southern edge started to burn into the Ochoco National Forest, an 845,000-acre forested area with huge potential for fire growth.
“We were really concerned when it started getting into the forest, and we started looking at contingency plans,” Mr. Zoutendijk said.
Despite the challenging conditions on Friday, firefighters prevented the fire from spreading significantly into the forested area. The fire’s growth was limited to 1,476 acres.
Mr. Zoutendijk said firefighters had built a control line, a strip of land cleared of vegetation to stop the spread of a wildfire, and were reinforcing it. He said he expected that there would be containment, meaning flames should not be able to cross control lines, in coming days.
On Saturday, humidity levels had increased by 10 to 15 percent as the cold front carried moist air from the north and west into the region. Lower temperatures are expected on Saturday, with afternoon highs in the low 80s.
Winds were expected to pick up on Saturday afternoon and evening, but they should not be as strong as were on Friday. The winds are likely to be even calmer on Sunday.
“Things are going to be improving through the weekend,” said Matt Callihan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Pendleton, Ore.
Amy Graff is a Times reporter covering weather, wildfires and earthquakes.
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