WASCO -- A wildfire southeast of The Dalles has grown to more than 50,000 acres Wednesday, torching mostly Bureau of Land Management land in Wasco and Sherman counties, forcing residents to flee from their homes and killing one person.



The Oregon State Fire Marshal's Office said it's still trying to determine the cause of the Substation fire and precisely where it started. No estimation on containment of the fire was given, and wind gusts up to 35 mph are in the weather forecast.



The wildfire has spurred immediate Level 3 evacuation of the small cities of Moro and Grass Valley and the area from Macks Canyon to the mouth of the Deschutes River. Wasco is among other cities in the area under a level 2 evacuation order and U.S. 97 is closed from Biggs Junction to near the highway's junction with U.S. 197. More than 900 homes are in the level 2 and 3 evacuation areas.

More than 178 firefighters from 32 different counties have responded to the fire, authorities said. Aircraft dumping water on the flames are among the other tools being used to fight the fire, according to Stefan Myers, a state fire marshal spokesman. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown earlier Wednesday invoked the Emergency Conflagration Act for the wildfire to allow more resources in and out of the state to be used.

It's not yet clear how many people have been evacuated. A Red Cross shelter has been established at the Dalles Middle School on East 12th Avenue.

"It's been devastating," said Jessie Lamp, manager of Kramers Market in Dufur.



A steady stream of people has been coming in and out of the convenience store to get supplies. Conversation often centered around the fire, Lamp said.



"We all just kind of feel helpless," she said, adding that people have come in with stories of lost harvest equipment, homes and farmland.



Lamp said though she and many others in Dufur haven't been immediately impacted, it's still difficult to watch the surrounding community struggle.





"It's been crazy that in just 24 hours it's caused this much destruction," she said. "All the local farmers are in harvest right now, but they're all stopped what they're doing to go help where they're needed."



She said it's been scary. "It just happens so fast and so many people are affected and it makes you think how quickly life can turn on its head."



She said fires have always been a risk in this area, but none of this magnitude.



Mary Ann Kortage, 50, who lives off Emerson Loop Road the Charles E. Emerson House, evacuated her home of 22 years with her dog and a box of photo albums Tuesday afternoon.



Meanwhile, her husband, Rich, 51, and son, Jake, 21, a senior at Oregon State, stayed behind to help fight the fire.



Firetrucks don't usually make their way out to her family's farm. Instead, a local group of volunteer firefighters pitches in when a ranch inevitably catches fire every harvest season.



But this time is different. This time every farmer is fighting their own fire, she said.



Her husband and son managed to save their home, but hundreds of acres of their wheat went up in flames, Kortage said. Fortunately, the wheat was insured.



Kortage's husband was still away helping neighbors put out fires Wednesday evening. "When I send them off, it's nerve-wracking," she said, making reference to the death of one person trying to stop the fire earlier in the day.



The person who died was found in the burned tractor around 1:30 p.m., according to the Wasco County Sheriff's Office. The person appeared to be trying to make a fire line to protect their home nearby. That person has not yet been identified by the sheriff's office.



Myers said ultimately it's up to residents on whether they want to leave or remain on their properties.



"We want everyone that's in this community to know to please work with the firefighters," Myers said. "Heed their instructions, it's for their safety in the community as well as the firefighters."



One structure has been reported burned. That structure is the Charles E. Nelson farmhouse, one of the most photographed homes in Oregon, according to media reports.

Josiah Dean and Claire Sierra run the historic Balch Hotel in downtown Dufur. There's a picture of the Charles E. Nelson house hanging in their hotel.



About 15 miles away, all that remains of the home was a pile of rubble beside a couple charred trees. Small spouts of smoke still stream from the ground.



"It's iconic and sad to lose something like that, but it was going that way of nature anyway, going into the ground," Sierra said of the historic, but dilapidated building, adding that the loss of livelihood for farmers is the bigger challenge.

-- Anna Spoerre

@annaspoerre

Everton Bailey Jr. of The Oregonian/OregonLive staff contributed to this report.