Oregon's costly wildfire season
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Crews fight the Tiger Creek fire in Umatilla County as part of a record-breaking season in Oregon. Photo: Courtesy of USDA Forest Service
The wildfire season in Oregon this year — which scorched a record-breaking 1.9 million acres — set another record, too: It was the most expensive in the state's history.
Why it matters: At an estimated $132 million in costs to the state, the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) shelled out more than triple what it did last year and double the five-year average to fight this year's fires, officials told Axios.
- The problem is expected to get worse as climate change increases the risk for larger, more intense infernos in the state.
What they're saying: Jessica Neujahr, an ODF spokesperson, said the funding structure for Oregon's wildfire fighting agency hasn't been updated since 2013, and, since then, wildfire behavior in Oregon has changed drastically due, at least in part, to a warming climate.
- "Fires have progressively gotten worse and worse and more costly," she said. "It's not that we have to get used to a new normal. We're in the new normal. This is the new reality."
By the numbers: This year's firefighting costs dwarf the figure from 2023, when ODF spent $37 million to battle blazes on 120,000 acres of state lands.
- From 2015 to 2019, the average yearly cost was just under $25 million.
- That number jumped to more than $60 million between 2020 and 2024.
- The agency was awarded $47.5 million from Oregon's Emergency Board and is waiting on a $60 million loan from the Department of Treasury to pay back some of its contractors, Neujahr said.
Context: Neujahr said the majority of costs come from using aircraft to fight fires, but that personnel costs were a close second.
- On top of paying firefighters, the agency also must pay to house and feed their crews in massive fire camps that can resemble small, pop-up cities.
Caveat: The state actually paid more than $317 million to fight fires in Oregon this year, but much of that will be reimbursed from federal agencies.
- Still, the net costs provided by ODF don't represent the full cost of fighting wildfires in Oregon, since the state only pays for fires that start on state land.
- If a wildfire starts on federal land, as many of the most devastating ones do, money is either taken out of the Department of Interior's Wildland Fire Management Budget or the U.S. Forest Service's.
What's next: Neujahr said the agency is working with lawmakers to look for a long-term funding solution that "fits what is best for Oregonians and our natural resources."