ONTARIO, Ore. – More than a million acres of land have now burned across central and eastern Oregon, putting the state on track for another record wildfire season.

Thirty four major fires are burning largely on public range lands from near Bend, east of the Cascade Mountains to the Idaho state line. Dense smoke is blanketing the region and air quality advisories are in effect in the Boise, Idaho-metropolitan area, which is home to more than 700,000 people.

In Oregon, officials are cautioning the public to stay vigilant as it’s still early in the fire season. Most of these fires are burning at lower altitudes. They say the higher altitude forests are also vulnerable going into August and September as much of the state recorded its lowest snowpack on record last winter.

“We’re holding our breath right now that the weather conditions will moderate though that’s not looking likely,” says Larry O’Neill, the state’s climatologist at Oregon State University.

Most of these fast-moving range fires were ignited by a recent lightning storm that brought little or no rain and strong winds that fanned the flames. Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate from small towns across central and eastern Oregon, where ranchers are also racing to move their cattle to safety.

The fires are remote, but they’re burning people’s livelihoods

Smoke from the Second Flat Fire threatening Burns, Oregon.

Rick Vetter

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Rick Vetter

Near the Coleman Creek Fire, which is threatening the tiny cattle ranching town of Harper, the smoke is thick and acrid. At a roadblock on U.S. Highway 20, resident Mary Thompson and her rancher fiancé looked up as a smoke plume covered the brown grass and sage brush hills.

“It’s hard, it’s really hard,” Thompson says.

She’s frustrated that news and social media coverage often treats these rural fires as if there’s nothing much out here to burn. This is our livelihood, she says. A lot of folks around here are chipping in and moving cattle around to get them out of the way, she adds, and opening up their homes until the fires are under control.