CBS News
Oregon fire grows large enough to create its own weather as firefighters scramble to battle Western blazes
Firefighters in the West are scrambling as wildfires threaten communities in Oregon, California and Washington, with Oregon’s Durkee fire so large that it is creating its own weather. Twenty-four major fires were burning across Oregon under record-breaking dry conditions as the state entered its 76th day without rain Wednesday morning.
Amid the early and intense start to the fire season in the West, U.S. Forest Service spokesperson Holly Krake warned of “another monster of a fire year” in the Pacific Northwest.
“The forest and grasslands behind me are tinder dry, and when you add 2,000 lightning strikes in 48 hours, that’s bound to cause really hot, intense and fast-moving wildfires,” Krake told CBS News.
Interstate 84 in eastern Oregon was closed in both directions Tuesday between Ontario and Baker City as flames from the Durkee fire advanced toward the roadway in multiple locations. The Oregon Department of Transportation also closed the eastbound lanes of I-84 from Pendleton to Baker City and warned Tuesday night that travelers should expect continued highway closures in eastern Oregon as fire crews actively fight fire from the interstate.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Monday night authorized the use of federal funds to help with firefighting costs for the lightning-caused blaze that started July 17. It had scorched nearly 375 square miles as of Tuesday afternoon.
The Durkee fire was threatening homes in and around the communities of Durkee, Huntington and Rye Valley, as well as the interstate, cell towers and power infrastructure in the area. Fire crews and equipment from 22 states were battling the blaze as of Tuesday, authorities said.
Stephen Parker, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boise, Idaho, said the Durkee fire showed such extreme fire behavior on Saturday, Sunday and Monday that it began creating its own weather system with a “pyrocumulus cloud.”
“That can happen when a fire becomes plume-dominated,” Parker said. “It’s like a thunderstorm on top of the fire, generated by the heat of the fire.”
The pyrocumulus cloud allows the smoke and ash from the fire to travel much higher in the air than it would typically go, he said. If there is enough moisture in the air above the fire, the pyrocumulus cloud can also generate rain and lightning, potentially causing new fire starts in the region.
There were lightning strikes in the region on Monday night, but there were also other thunderstorms in the area, making it impossible to tell which weather system was responsible for the storm, Parker said.
Several new fires ignited in the area Monday because of severe weather that included lightning and strong wind gusts, the Baker County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.
Oregon State Fire Marshal/Handout via Reuters
“Within minutes of the first lightning strikes, reports then came in of visible flames,” the post read.
Multiple fires have scorched more than 1,093 square miles in Oregon, with nearly 180 square miles torched in the past 24 hours, authorities said.
Parts of the West have also been in the grip of a heat wave, including record-breaking triple-digits temperatures, for days.
A fire in the Columbia River Gorge that started late Monday forced urgent evacuations around the town of Mosier, Oregon, and the entire town of about 400 people was ordered to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice on Tuesday.
In central Washington, a fire that sparked Monday near Naches prompted mandatory evacuations while another near Bickelton also forced evacuations and threatened a natural gas plant. A fire that started Tuesday closed a section of U.S. 12 in both directions over White Pass.
Millions of acres of national forest lands across Oregon and Washington are continuing to see record-breaking dry timber conditions on both sides of the Cascade Mountains with no “wetting” rains for more than six weeks in areas from far southern Oregon to the eastern part of the state and north into central Washington, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek earlier this month declared an “extended state of emergency” until October because of the increased risk of wildfires.
“I urge all Oregonians to follow the instructions and evacuation levels issued by emergency officials,” she said at the time, while also urging people to subscribe to emergency alerts, to have an evacuation plan, prepare a go-kit, and stay aware of changing conditions.
Near the California-Nevada border, a series of lightning-sparked wildfires in the Sierra forced the evacuation of a recreation area, closed a state highway and was threatening structures Tuesday in several communities southwest of Portola, which is about 50 miles northwest of Reno.
Nearly 200 children and staff at a summer camp near Portola voluntarily evacuated on buses back to their homes Sunday night in the Reno-Sparks area.
Heat waves and historic drought tied to climate change have made wildfires more challenging to fight in the American West. Scientists have said climate change has made the region much warmer and drier in the past 30 years and will continue to make the weather more extreme, and wildfires more frequent and destructive.
FRAMINGHAM – Stop & Shop stores across Massachusetts had empty shelves on Monday due to a cyberattack.
Stop & Shop shelves empty
People walking into the store ready to stock up before Thanksgiving had to leave empty-handed.
“I can’t buy carrots. I can’t buy lettuce. The vegetables are slim and the meat department is low,” shopper Jim Noto said. “Very disappointing especially this time of the year. It’s just a shame because they are losing a lot of customers.”
“Empty. Completely empty! All of it,” said Maryanne Lambert, who could only get half of her grocery list.
“The produce just wasn’t there. It was awful. What’s going on?” Instacart shopper Tina Diblasi said. She is thinking of taking a vacation from the delivery service until the shelves are stocked again.
Shoppers said they are going to find another store to get their necessities ahead of the upcoming holiday.
Cybersecurity issue
Stop & Shop says it’s a cybersecurity issue affecting its parent company, Ahold Delhaize, and that they have placed signs in stores that tell customers it was because of an IT systems outage.
“While there may be some limited inventory for certain products, we are working to re-stock our shelves and anticipate item availability to continue to improve over the next few days,” the store said in a statement.
Ahold Delhaize says it is investigating the issue and has told law enforcement about the breach. They are taking some systems offline to protect them.
“This issue and subsequent mitigating actions have affected certain Ahold Delhaize USA brands and services including a number of pharmacies and certain e-commerce operations,” Ahold Delhaize said in a statement.
Stop & Shop announced in July that it would be closing 32 stores across five states that were “underperforming.” Seven of those stores were in Massachusetts. The company donated all of the remaining food at the shuttered supermarkets to food shelters near their stores.
“Stop and Shop is a business in some trouble. It changed CEOs in September. They’re closing almost 1 in 10 of their stores even before this. It does seem to be targeting their financial transaction systems so they couldn’t manage payments but honestly, everything is vulnerable,” Professor of Food Economics and Policy at Tufts University in the Friedman School of Nutrition William Masters said.
Paul Teal, an actor known for his recurring role on the TV series “One Tree Hill,” died on Friday after a battle with cancer, a representative for Teal confirmed to CBS News.
“His remarkable talent, along with his gentle spirit, has left an indelible mark on all of us fortunate enough to have known him,” Susan Tolar Walters of STW Talent Agency said in a statement on Monday. “The loss we feel in our hearts is immeasurable.”
The actor’s fiancée, Emilia Torello, shared a tribute to Teal in a Sunday Instagram post, calling him “the most thoughtful, inspiring, driven, self-disciplined, loving man.”
“Paul, you were my soulmate, my soon-to-be-husband, my rock, and my future. You filled my lungs with laughter, my stomach with butterflies, and my heart with love,” Torello wrote in the emotional post. “You were taken too soon, in a battle that you fought bravely without fail. While a part of me died with you, I promise to fight to find joy in life as hard as you fought to live every single day. The world is lucky to have even had a moment with Paul Teal, and I am the luckiest person in it, because I got to call you mine. I will love you forever.”
Teal, who played Josh in the seventh season of “One Tree Hill,” was also remembered by stars Sophia Bush and Bethany Joy Lenz.
Bush said she was “incredibly saddened to hear about the passing of Paul Teal. We are just starting to watch his OTH episodes on [“Drama Queens” podcast] and he’s such a talent.”
Lenz worked with Teal on “One Tree Hill” and on a musical production of “The Notebook.”
“He was too young to die. Far too young. I’m gutted,” she wrote in an Instagram post. “Paul, your time here was like a summer romance for all of us who knew you, especially if only for a season. Bursting, exciting, deeply moving, and unforgettable.”
Teal also appeared in “Outer Banks” and “The Staircase.” He was also part of the cast of “The Hunting Wives,” which is expected to premiere in 2025.
CBS News
TNT’s “Inside the NBA” will air on ESPN, ABC starting next season, as part of NBA settlement
“Inside the NBA” will continue, even though games will no longer be airing on TNT at the end of this season.
The popular studio show will appear on ESPN and ABC beginning next season as part of a settlement between Warner Bros. Discovery and the NBA that was announced on Monday.
The settlement gives TNT Sports, Bleacher Report and House of Highlights a global license for NBA content with no rights fee for the next 11 years.
Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of TNT Sports, sued the NBA in New York state court in August after the league did not accept the company’s matching offer for one of the packages in its new 11-year media rights deal, which will begin with the 2025-26 season.
Even though “Inside the NBA” will be on ESPN and ABC, TNT Sports will continue to produce the show. It will air from Atlanta, except when the show goes on the road.
The quartet of Ernie Johnson Jr., Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal will remain with the show. Barkley signed an extension with Warner Bros. Discovery in August despite the company losing the NBA.
“‘Inside the NBA’ is universally recognized as one of the best and most culturally impactful shows in sports,” ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said. “We have long-admired the immensely talented team and are thrilled to add their chemistry and knowledge to our robust set of NBA studio offerings to super-serve NBA fans like never before. The addition of ‘Inside the NBA’ further solidifies ESPN as the preeminent destination for sports fans.”
“Inside the NBA” will handle pregame, halftime and postgame coverage of the NBA Finals on ABC, conference finals and the NBA Playoffs. During the regular season, it will be part of opening week coverage, as well as Christmas Day, all ABC games after Jan. 1, the final week of the season and other marquee events.
“The opportunity to continue the iconic and Emmy Award-winning ‘Inside the NBA’ is a huge win for basketball fans everywhere,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “We look forward to building on our longstanding partnership with TNT Sports and working together to promote NBA content across key WBD and NBA platforms.”
“Inside the NBA” started in 1989, Johnson became the host in 1990 while Smith joined fulltime in 1998. Barkley came aboard in 2000 followed by O’Neal in 2011. The show has garnered 21 Sports Emmy Awards.
ESPN will also continue to produce “NBA Countdown” and “NBA Today.”
Warner Bros. Discovery will also continue its relationship with the league’s digital operations, including NBA.com, for five seasons. TNT Sports and the NBA have jointly managed NBA Digital since 2009.
Even though TNT Sports will not be airing games in the United States beginning next season, it does have rights to air a full package of games in select countries, including Latin America (excluding Brazil and Mexico), Poland, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.
TNT Sports will also begin showing 13 Big 12 football and 15 men’s basketball games next season as part of a sublicense with ESPN. TNT will air two College Football Playoff games beginning this season also under a sublicense with ESPN.
Turner Sports has had an NBA package since 1984 and games have been on TNT since the network launched in 1988. That will end after this season.
“Together these agreements ensure fans will continue to enjoy TNT’s ‘Inside the NBA’ and create tremendous value for our entire portfolio as we accelerate the growth of TNT Sports, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and our global sports business,” Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said in a statement. “We are pleased to partner with the NBA and Disney/ESPN, and to have solidified long-term rights and revenue for WBD.”
