PORTLAND, Ore. — When the smoke cleared from a new wildfire threatening the small Columbia River Gorge community of Rowena, area residents glimpsed an even less-welcome sight — a line of flames visible from the city of The Dalles, about six miles away.

After the fire made a run along the river Wednesday evening, residents of 275 homes in Rowena were told to evacuate, fire spokesman Dave Wells said.

Residents of nearly 90 homes in an outlying subdivision of The Dalles, a city of about 14,000, were told to be ready to leave if necessary, Wells said.

No homes had burned as of Wednesday night, the spokesman said.

Five helicopters dropped water on the blaze Wednesday as winds gusted to more than 30 mph, fire spokesman Justin de Ruyter said.

A section of U.S. Highway 30 was closed in the area, but Interstate 84 remained open.

The fire began in brush Tuesday night and quickly spread to about 200 acres of timber and scrub oak in rocky, steep terrain that is home to rattlesnakes, ticks and poison oak.

“We’ve got a challenging fire on our hands,” de Ruyter said.

Gov. John Kitzhaber invoked the state’s authority to mobilize local fire departments to protect buildings, and structural protection fire crews have come from three counties.

The governor also toured Oregon’s biggest wildfire, the Oregon Gulch fire, which burned six homes last week.