10 September 2020

The Big Smoke is Thick In Portland City Center Today, and Wildfire Developments

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Today I had an appointment for a taste test group at the OSU Food Innovation Center down on NW Naito Parkway. I can neither confirm or deny that it was in some way related to seafood though I did find all samples rather tasty.

It was worth $50 for showing up, so there's that as well. It's gotten to be a pretty big draw, but it's fun and interesting and they always pay you money for showing up so I recommend Googling that stuff up and getting on the list if you can.

Camera was ready of course because there is a flood of wildfire smoke images accessing the digital image part of the internet and I would be remiss if I did not contribute. Actually, I'm rather counting my blessings: chance could have made me a resident in an area that had to evacuate. Not a desirable outcome, as thousands of people would certainly tell you right now. 

This is downtown Portland as seen from NE Lloyd Blvd just west of Grand Avenue. Usually a very good view. It is a very good view, but of a rather bad thing right now. Taking in a homeless camp just makes the whole thing of a piece.

The air quality is atrocious, akin to just sticking an unsmoked cigarette in your bronchial tubes.

And this is the Lloyd District as seen from the Banfield Freeway (I-84), on approach to that area from the east:


As scary as yesterday's sky was, I'd prefer it to this.

Developments we've heard since yesterday:

  • The town of Detroit was largely burned to the ground
  • Mill City got smacked but not as hard as originally thought
  • The towns along the Cascade Piedmont in Marion County ... Silverton, Mt. Angel, Sublimity, Stayton, still remain on Level 2 evac status, one move away from having to leave
  • More than half of Clackamas County is now on Level 3 status: this includes Molalla and Estacada, and most of the way along Highway 213 down to the Marion County line at the Pudding River. 
  • All the major towns in Clackamas County - Canby, Oregon City, Gladstone - are also on Level 2 evac alerts. 

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