Oregon declares statewide wildfire emergency

from the Oregon Office of the Governor

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek declared a state of emergency July 12, 2024 because of the imminent threat of wildfire, continuing through Oct. 1, 2024.

“Wildfires are active across Oregon and are growing at a concerning pace. Hot and windy conditions this weekend, including forecasted lightning in some areas, are threatening even larger wildfires,” Gov. Kotek said. “I am declaring a state of emergency to access state resources for communities across Oregon as we respond to this year’s escalating wildfire season.

“Throughout the summer, it will inevitably get hotter and drier, presenting an even greater risk of catastrophic wildfires. The best way to limit wildfire impacts on our communities, natural areas, and first responders is to be aware of the conditions and prevent wildfires from starting.

“I urge all Oregonians to follow the instructions and evacuation levels issued by emergency officials, subscribe to emergency alerts on ORAlert.gov, have an evacuation plan, prepare a go-kit, and stay aware of changing conditions.”

Following ORS 401.165 et seq., Gov. Kotek determined that the state of Oregon is in a critical fire danger situation, threatening life, safety, and property because of extreme high temperatures. The state has experienced wildfires this season resulting in three state conflagration declarations and two federal Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) declarations, several community evacuations, threatened and damaged structures, and critical infrastructure.

Oregon’s neighboring states of California, Idaho, and Washington continue to experience similar fires and weather. The extended weather forecast for Oregon predicts ongoing warm and dry conditions, creating an imminent fire threat across a large portion of the state.

Executive Order 24-13 directs the Oregon Department of Emergency Management to support access to and use of personnel and equipment of all state agencies necessary to assess, alleviate, respond to, lessen, or recover from conditions caused by this emergency and to meet requests by the Oregon Department of Forestry, the Oregon Department of the State Fire Marshal and/or county and tribal emergency management to support response needs to respond to or lessen the effects of, the wildfire emergency as described in the state’s Emergency Operations Plan.

The Oregon National Guard will deploy, and redeploy, firefighting resources as needed and following Operations Plan Smokey 2024 throughout the remainder of the fire season based on need.

Those who believe they have been charged excessively high prices for essential consumer goods during this emergency are encouraged to report violations to the Oregon Department of Justice Consumer Protection Services, which has the authority to investigate unlawful trade practices.