structures, most of them homes, has grown to more than 95,000 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. It was 49 percent contained as of late Saturday night local time, according to InciWeb, a government site that tracks wildfires.
“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 a week ago 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.
As of Saturday, seven fires were burning in Oregon, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
