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The east wind event expected to hit western Oregon on Friday and Saturday, bringing extreme fire danger with it, is eerily similar to the conditions leading to the 2020 Labor Day fires blowup, meteorologists said.

Follow our live coverage of the latest news on preparations, power outages and fires.

In some ways the dice already has been rolled on the Cedar Creek Fire, and at this point, all firefighters can do is see where it lands.

The east winds have arrived on a fire that was at 33,100 acres overnight but was already growing Friday, bringing new evacuation levels outside Oakridge. The fire is going to move, for sure, but how far remains the key question for the next 24 hours.

The fire remains about 12 to 14 miles from Oakridge. The strongest winds are forecast to arrive Friday afternoon through Saturday morning. A level 2 evacuation order — meaning be ready to leave at any moment — was issued Friday morning for the High Prairie area northeast of Oakridge. Oakridge-Westfir remains on level 1, meaning “be prepared.”

“The east winds are pushing the fire west and we’re definitely going to have very, very difficult fire conditions until the end of the day Saturday,” Cedar Creek Fire spokesman Bud Sexton said.

“Suppression actions may be limited,” a Friday morning report said.

See the full story here.

Portland General Electric has put out updated times for outages to begin in certain areas:

Students at Oakridge School District and neighboring districts were sent home at 10:30 a.m. Friday following continued spread of the Cedar Creek Fire and power outages.

The district has kept families and community members updated through social media and alerts, monitoring the fire's progress.

As of Friday morning, the Cedar Creek Fire has covered 33,099 acres to the west and north of Waldo Lake, approaching Oakridge from the east. Local Oakridge officials announced a Level 2 evacuation notice, meaning residents must prepare to leave at a moment's notice. Level 2 evacuation is in effect for the High Prairie area, including all of High Prairie Road, Brock Road, Bar BL Ranch Road, Nubian Way, Mountain View Road and Huckleberry Lane.

"We will work with the emergency management team in any way possible to support our community during this stressful time," stated a post on the Oakridge School District's Facebook page.

The district also canceled all after-school activities, including a scheduled away football game.

McKenzie School District: McKenzie School District in Blue River released students at noon.

"We just lost power at school," stated a post on the district's Facebook. "We are getting things organized to send students home at noon today."

Crow-Applegate-Lorane School District: Crow-Applegate-Lorane School District also released students early Friday afternoon. In a public post, the district stated all students would be sent home after lunch services at 12:30 p.m.

The district assured that "everyone" was safe, but there will be no after-school programs. Currently, power is out at Applegate Elementary, and phones will be unavailable until Sunday.

Pacific Power officials said they are continuing to monitor the concerning weather system closely.

As of 9:30 a.m. Friday, early forecasted easterly winds near the Cascades and foothills were beginning to develop in the company’s service area.

As the weather system progresses throughout the day, the company is still anticipating Public Safety Power Shutoffs for specific communities and will provide advance notification to affected customers when possible before turning off their power. 

The communities under monitoring and watch include parts of:

Temporary community resource centers are available and will remain open Friday and Saturday until 10 p.m. (unless service is restored earlier).

For all non-emergency questions about the power shutoff, customers and the public should call Pacific Power at 1-888-221-7070. 

The Cedar Creek Fire didn’t grow a ton overnight, increasing to 33,099 acres, which is up from about 31,000 the day before.

However, the fire has spread down the eastern shoreline of the lake and North Waldo Campground is now within the fire perimeter and the fire border is very close to Islet Campground.

It’s not clear whether those areas have been impacted or protected by fire crews. But more information will be available when crews give a full morning briefing later on Friday.

Medical and community centers have opened for people whose power has been shut down in the areas outside Salem. Here's a list of them:

Santiam Hospital & Clinics: 1401 N 10th Ave., Stayton; Open 24 hours. Community members will need to check in at the emergency department.

Silverton Hospital; 342 Fairview St., Silverton; Open 24 hours. Community members will need to check in at the main entrance.

Bethel Baptist Church, Aumsville; Services: Cooling center, snacks, charging stations, accessible restrooms, water; Location: 645 Cleveland St. Aumsville; Hours: 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday; Phone: 503-749-2128; *No Pets

Stayton Public Library; Services: Cooling Shelter; Location: 515 N. 1st Ave. Stayton; Hours: Friday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Phone: 503-769-3313. *No Pets

Foothills Church, Stayton; services: Air conditioning, accessible restrooms, water, charging stations; Location: 975 Fern Ridge Road, Stayton; Hours: Saturday from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Phone: 503-428-2591

Sankey Park, Sweet Home. Services: Charge devices, cooling station and access other amenities; Location: 877 14th Ave., Sweet Home; Hours: 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday; Phone: 888-221-7070 to reach Pacific Power for more information.

Silverton Senior Center. Services: Air conditioned, charging station, accessible restrooms, water; Location: 115 Westfield Ave., Silverton; Hours: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Phone: 503-873-3093. *Limited pet availability

Silverton Safeway. Services: water and ice, charging and Wi-Fi, portable restroom trailer and hand washing stations; Location: 301 Westfield St., Silverton. Hours: Safeway is open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Portland General Electric will shut down power to 30,000 homes across a sprawling area from the Columbia Gorge to Silver Falls early Friday morning.

PGE said it will shut down power in 12 areas. These are the locations and the estimated time the power shutoff will begin:

To search for a specific address on a PGE map, see this page.

"Crews will be standing by, and as weather conditions allow PGE, will begin to physically inspect power lines and equipment and make any repairs necessary to safely restore power," the utility said. "PGE will provide updates at least every 24 hours until all customers regain power through email, text, social media, press releases, and at portlandgeneral.com."

Power companies are opening community resource centers in areas expected to be impacted by power shutoffs.

All open fires in Willamette National Forest were outlawed Thursday night as fire danger levels increased to "extreme" across the 1.8 million acres of national forest east of Salem and Eugene.

All campfires, charcoal or briquette fires, pellet fires or any other open fires are prohibited under the forest order. Campfires are banned in campground rings and in high-elevation wilderness areas.

Portable cooking stoves and lanterns using liquefied or bottled fuel are still allowed as they can be instantly switched off.

Eugene Water & Electric Board announced Thursday evening that about 3,000 customers in the McKenzie Valley from Oak Point up to Vida and down to Walterville will be without power from 5 p.m. Friday through Saturday evening.

Due to forecasted weather conditions creating extreme fire danger, in consultation with local emergency managers and fire officials, EWEB will enact Public Safety Power Shutoffs in its McKenzie Valley service territory.

Power outages will start as soon as 5 p.m. Friday, EWEB announced. Customers are advised to prepare for at least 48 hours without power.

Power outages will impact customers east of Hayden Bridge up to Vida, including the following areas:

EWEB will restore service as soon as possible once weather conditions allow. Before re-energizing, crews will patrol lines and remove debris, make repairs if needed and will respond to emergency reports of lines down or other damage to the power system. Once that work is complete, EWEB will restore service.

Restoration is anticipated to take longer than typical.

Weather-related outages could happen outside of Public Safety Power Shutoff areas. The best time to prepare is now. Check that your outage kit is stocked and ready. Things to include are: 

Visit eweb.org/wildfire for more information.

Pacific Power has updated its estimated shutoff times, although it warns the times could be sooner if conditions warrant. Wind-prone rural areas deeper in the mountains will be shut off first.

Due to the extreme risk of wildfire in its service territory and continued forecast of potentially strong winds, Lane Electric Cooperative announced Thursday evening it will implement a public safety power shutoff starting at 5 p.m. Friday through the evening of Saturday.

The outage will impact nearly all Lane Electric members, but the city centers of Oakridge, Lowell, and Veneta will continue to have power to provide key services.

"This decision was made after carefully considering current wildfire risk, predicted weather forecasts, consulting emergency officials, and through conversations with local utilities," the announcement said.

With high heat in the forecast, the utility is encouraging people to plan accordingly for the extended outage.

Crews will begin power restoration during daylight hours on Sunday morning.

For tips from Lane Electric for preparing for outages, go to laneelectric.com/outages/power-outage-tips

Preparation for outage:Tips to prepare for potential power shutoffs in Oregon during extreme wildfire danger

Increased fire activity has prompted an increase in evacuation levels for greater Oakridge and Westfir areas around the Cedar Creek Fire.

The evacuation includes greater Oakridge and Westfir areas.  This includes High Prairie and other rural outlying areas surrounding Oakridge and Westfir.

Read about other preparations:High winds put Oregon wildfire watchers on alert, especially for Oakridge area

Officials are asking residents to keep cell phones and any other devices used to receive emergency alerts charged. 

In addition, all previously issued evacuation notices remaining in effect can be found at www.lanecounty.org.

Several schools have announced they will be closed Friday due to expected power outages:

Pacific Power, Portland General Electric and Consumers Power. Inc. announced they may shut off power due to anticipated high winds to decrease the risk of power lines being knocked down and starting fires.

In September 2020, Pacific Power was blamed for many of the Labor Day wildfires that ignited in the windstorm after power lines were knocked down. Numerous lawsuits blaming the utility for the fires have been filed, including a class action suit of nearly 2,500 properties, many in the Santiam Canyon.

The power companies now have plans in place designating areas where they may cut off power during such wind events. The plans are called Public Safety Power Shutoff plans.

Check here for the latest power outage locations: