Dozens of hikers have been rescued after being trapped by wildfires in the mountains east of Portland.
Many of the walkers were forced to spend the night outside near Tunnel Falls after a fire broke out near the Columbia River Gorge trail.
The only other way out was longer and more difficult, so officials told them to stay in place until Sunday morning.
Deputy Joel Ives said all the hikers were accounted for, although one was taken to hospital for exhaustion and dehydration.
The U.S. Forest Service said the wildfire was human-caused and is under investigation by the Oregon State Police.
They said it was likely to have caused by the misuse of fireworks.
Families reunite after campers were evacuated from a forest fire in the Eagle Creek area of the Columbia River Gorge
About 140 hikers were forced to spend the night outside near Tunnel Falls.
Cameron Wong was hiking at the trail with friends when they looked over a ledge and saw trees on fire.
‘We started smelling smoke and felt heat, so we looked around, heard crackling, looked down the rail and right below there was a fire that jumped up on the trail just a few minutes later,’ Wong told CNN affiliate KPTV.
‘There were kids there screaming. The fire had jumped on the trail and it was burning all around the trail … and then we ran out of there.’
Mountain Wave dropped supplies to the hikers.
Police said they have identified a suspect in the fire.
The investigation into the cause of the fire is being conducted by the Oregon State Police, U.S. Forest Service, Hood River Sheriff’s Office, Hood River District Attorney’s Office and fire personnel.
Two busloads of hikers in Oregon were reunited with their friends and family Sunday morning after they were forced to spend the night in the mountains east of Portland
Mountain Wave Search and Rescue president Russ Gubele said search and rescue teams headed up the second trail on Sunday morning and led the hikers out the 14 miles (22.5 kilometers) toward Wahtum Lake.
The first group made it out by about 10:30 a.m. and the last group by about 1 or 1:30 p.m.
‘It’s horribly smoky,’ Gubele said. ‘Ash is coming down. It’s like a Mount Saint Helens eruption all over again.’
The first group made it out by about 10:30 a.m. and the last group by about 1 or 1:30 p.m