Today’s brief covers a nation at Preparedness Level 5 with 95 large fires, led by Oregon’s Fox Fire evacuation of Huntington and a 70-mile closure of Interstate 84, Level 3 orders across Warm Springs as the Bench Fire passes 40,000 acres, and Washington’s 121,000-acre Kaiser Canyon Fire around Nespelem. Severe storms bring a preliminary EF-2 tornado to Appleton, Wisconsin, and knock out power to more than 315,000 Chicago-area customers while grounding flights at O’Hare and Midway. Also: CISA adds Fortinet and Arista flaws to the KEV catalog, AnMed Health works through a malware disruption in South Carolina, FEMA fire grants for Hawaii and Oregon, and boil water advisories in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. EM Morning Brief is your concise daily update on national and state-by-state emergency management news. Produced by Sitch Radio, an EOC Voices podcast.

Key Takeaways

• Oregon wildfires: The Fox Fire puts all of Huntington under Level 3 Go Now orders and closes I-84 for roughly 70 miles between Baker City and Ontario; the Bench Fire reaches 40,296 acres with all of Warm Springs evacuated, a tribal State of Emergency, and a boil water notice.

• Washington: The Kaiser Canyon Fire grows to 121,417 acres at 9 percent containment with Nespelem still under Go Now orders and more than 1,000 residents displaced.

• Midwest severe weather: A preliminary EF-2 tornado damages Appleton and Menasha, Wisconsin; Chicago-area storms cut power to more than 315,000 ComEd customers and cancel roughly 960 flights at O’Hare.

• National fire posture: Preparedness Level 5 holds with 95 large fires and 25,796 personnel committed; 74 Australian and New Zealand specialists mobilize to the Pacific Northwest.

• Cyber: CISA adds Fortinet FortiOS (CVE-2025-68686) and Arista VeloCloud Orchestrator (CVE-2026-16812) flaws to the KEV catalog; AnMed Health in South Carolina confirms a malware disruption with ERs still open.

• Lifelines: Boil water advisories affect north Clayton County, Georgia; part of Scranton, Pennsylvania; Fox Crossing, Wisconsin; and West Columbia, South Carolina.

• Federal actions: FEMA approves Fire Management Assistance Grants for Hawaii’s Kawaihae Road Fire and Oregon’s Grasshopper Fire; Lafourche Parish assistance site opens with an August 31 FEMA deadline; South Dakota requests a presidential disaster declaration.

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Sources

NIFC and Wildfire

• NIFC National Fire News: July 27 national fire summary, PL 5, 95 large fires

CISA

• CISA: Adds two Known Exploited Vulnerabilities to Catalog (July 27)

FEMA

• FEMA Press Releases: FMAG authorizations and recovery updates

NOAA and NHC

• National Hurricane Center: Atlantic outlook, no active systems

Arizona

• NWS Phoenix via KESQ: Extreme Heat Warning through August 2, highs 110 to 121

California

• CAL FIRE: Cinder Complex incident page

• Sierra Wave: Rock Fire and Cinder Complex evening update, evacuation downgrades (July 27)

Georgia

• Atlanta News First: Clayton County boil water advisory after pump station failure

Hawaii

• Hawaii News Now: FEMA approves federal funding for Kawaihae fire costs

• Hawaii News Now: Evacuation orders lifted for Kawaihae Village

• USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory: Kilauea volcano updates

Illinois

• Chicago Sun-Times: Storms down trees, delay flights, leave 300,000-plus without power

Indiana

• WSBT: Thousands without power in northwest Indiana

Louisiana

• WGNO: Lafourche Parish residents eligible for Tropical Storm Arthur FEMA assistance

• FEMA: Louisiana Tropical Storm Arthur (DR-4927-LA)

Minnesota

• Boreal Community Media: July Lightning Incident and Little Knife Fire daily update (July 27)

• Superior National Forest: BWCAW wildfire area closures

Nevada

• NIFC National Fire News: Nevada new large fires

Oregon

• KVAL: Sheriff issues Level 3 Go Now evacuation for Huntington as Fox Fire threatens area

• KSAT/AP: Major Oregon interstate closed for 70 miles due to wildfire

• Central Oregon Fire Info: Bench Fire update (July 27)

• OPB: Oregon wildfires explode with no signs of slowing down

• Columbia Gorge News: Wildfire updates July 27, Grasshopper Fire evacuations

• Central Oregon Fire Info: Akawa Butte Fire update (July 27)

Pennsylvania

• Pennsylvania American Water: Boil water advisory for part of Scranton

South Carolina

• Fox Carolina: AnMed confirms malware caused network disruption

• City of West Columbia: Boil water advisory issued July 27

South Dakota

• KCCR: Rhoden makes formal request for presidential disaster declaration

Washington

• InciWeb: Kaiser Canyon Fire incident information

• KING 5: New evacuations as Kaiser Canyon Fire scorches over 100,000 acres

Wisconsin

• NWS Green Bay: July 27, 2026 severe storms and tornado summary

• CNN: Extremely dangerous tornado rips roofs off homes in northeast Wisconsin

• Fox 96.9: Boil notice issued for Fox Crossing utility customers

Good morning.

The nation remains at preparedness level.

Five firefighters are working to suppress 95 large fires across the country, including 13 new large incidents.

With 25,796 personnel committed nationwide, the Northwest remains the center of gravity.

Oregon and Washington carry 51 uncontained large fires and 18 complex incident management teams, and the National Multi Agency Coordinating group has mobilized 74 fire management specialists from Australia and New Zealand for 30 days of operational support in the Pacific Northwest, FEMA authorizes fire Management Assistance grants for the Kauaihei Road fire in Hawaii county and the Grasshopper Fire in Wasco County, Oregon, covering up to 75% of eligible firefighting costs.

Severe weather hammers the Upper Midwest A preliminary EF2 tornado tears through the Appleton and Menasha area in northeast Wisconsin and two rounds of storms across the Chicago area down trees, flood streets, knock out power to more than 315,000 ComEd customers and force ground stops at O' Hare and Midway with roughly 960 cancellations at O'.

Hare.

Extreme heat holds across the desert Southwest where the Phoenix forecast office keeps an extreme heat warning in effect into August 2nd with afternoon highs of 110 to 121 degrees in the lower deserts.

Network defenders should prioritize remediation in the tropics.

The National Hurricane center reports a quiet Atlantic with no active systems or disturbances.

Let's run through the states Arizona an extreme heat warning remains in effect for the lower deserts including Yuma, Parker Valley and Palo Verde Valley through 8pm MST on August 2 with afternoon temperatures of 110 to 121 degrees.

Heat related illness risk is elevated for anyone without effective cooling or hydration.

The lightning caused cinder complex in Inyo county stands at 2,722 acres and 25% containment.

Officials downgrade evacuation orders to warnings for several zones north of Aberdeen and lift warnings for a dozen more.

The nearby Rock fire holds at 12,008 acres and 45% containment under the same incident command.

Shelters remain available at the Bishop Senior center with large animal sheltering at the Tri County Fairgrounds.

The Clayton County Water Authority issues a boil water advisory for the north end of the county after an overnight pump station failure.

Affected areas include Forest Park, Lake City, College park and Moro.

Customers should boil water for drinking and cooking until the advisory is lifted.

FEMA approves a Fire Management Assistance grant for the Kauaihai Road fire on Hawaii island, which burned close to 700 acres in South Kohala over the weekend, and forced evacuations of Kauaihe Village and Spencer Beach Park.

Evacuation orders are lifted and roads are reopened as crews continue mop up at Kilauea.

The summit eruption remains paused at volcano alert level advisory, with the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory forecasting the next fountaining episode between July 29 and August 2.

Illinois Two rounds of severe storms sweep the Chicago area, producing tornado warnings in the south and southwest suburbs, 74 mph winds at Midway, up to 3 inches of rain, widespread street and basement flooding and outages peaking above 315,000 ComEd customers.

Ground stops at O' Hare and Midway are lifted, but about 960 flights are canceled at O' Hare and roughly 100 at Midway.

Indiana the same storm system moves into northwest Indiana, where NIPSCO reports more than 27,500 customers without power, and tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings are issued along the Illinois line.

Recovery from June's Tropical Storm Arthur continues.

A disaster recovery assistance site opens at the AG center in Raceland to help laforche Parish homeowners and renters file federal assistance claims.

The FEMA Application deadline is August 31st.

Minnesota in the Superior National Forest, the Sioux Fire stands at 12,615 acres and 27% containment, the Little Knife Fire at 4,958 acres and 49% and the Camp Fire at 4,407 acres.

Select boundary Waters entry points on the Gunflint and TOFTI districts reopen for day use while overnight permits remain canceled through July 29.

Nevada Four new large fires are reported statewide, led by the chimney fire at 5,000 acres and zero containment southeast of Midas in Elko County.

The Quail Springs fire west of Alamo and the New Pass fire northwest of Austin are also uncontained.

The state carries the nation's heaviest fire load in Baker County.

The Fox Fire pushes the entire city of Huntington to Level 3.

Go now.

Status comes within an estimated 250ft of homes and closes Interstate 84 for roughly 70 miles between Baker City and Ontario.

A shelter is open in Ontario.

In Jefferson county, the merged bench fire reaches 40,296 acres at zero containment, prompting level three orders for the entirety of Warm Springs, a tribal state of emergency, six confirmed home losses and a boil water notice with water conservation orders on the reservation.

In Wasco county, the Grasshopper fire grows to 10,742 acres with Level 3 orders for Sportsman's Park, Pine Hollow and portions of the Mount Hood National Forest.

A shelter is open at Maupin High School and FEMA authorizes federal firefighting funds.

In Deschutes county, cooler conditions let crews strengthen lines on the 27,000acre Akawa Butte fire and the Sheriff lowers many Level 3 zones to Level 2 or Level 1 though go now orders remain for Squaw Creek Canyon Estates.

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania American Water issues a boil water advisory for about 770 customers in part of Scranton after a 24 inch main break along North Washington Avenue.

South Carolina AndMed Health confirms a malware driven cybersecurity disruption affecting phone and network systems across its upstate hospital locations.

Emergency rooms remain open, but ANMED Medical Group offices and imaging services are closed Monday with elective procedure patients contacted directly.

State and federal authorities are assisting separately.

West Columbia issues a boil water advisory tied to a water main break.

South Dakota governor Larry Roden formally requests a presidential major disaster declaration for eight counties and two reservations following the late June and early July storms, which included a mini derecho with a 131 mph gust near Highmore, a tornado and a historic windstorm.

Washington the Kaiser Canyon Fire on the colville reservation reaches 121,417 acres at 9% containment.

The entire town of Nesbellum remains under level 3 go now orders with more than thousand residents.

Displaced shelters are open at Lake Roosevelt High School in Coulee Dam, the OMAC Community center and the OMAC Longhouse State Route 155, Cache Creek Road and Buffalo Lake Road remain closed in the fire area.

Wisconsin A preliminary EF2 tornado with winds of at least 111 mph tracks from near Appleton to the north shore of Lake Winnebago, stripping roofs, flipping vehicles and damaging homes in Appleton, Menasha, Neenah and surrounding communities.

No injuries are reported.

Outages top 80,000 customers statewide with more than 21,000 in Utagami County.

Fox Crossing issues a boil water notice for utility customers on its east side following the storms.

All other states and territories have no significant updates in the last 24 hours.

That wraps today's EM Morning Brief.

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