Oregon officials seek federal help after another record-setting year for wildfires

from the Office of the Governor and the entire Oregon congressional delegation

Oregon’s entire congressional delegation urged President Biden Oct. 24 to grant Gov. Tina Kotek’s request for a major disaster declaration, after record-setting 2024 wildfires burned about three times the annual average acreage.

“I am asking President Biden and the federal government to provide relief to the rural Oregon communities who weathered an unprecedented, destructive wildfire season,” Gov. Kotek said. “Despite the scale and persistence of the wildfires, our fire and emergency teams put their lives on the line—with little rest—to protect Oregonians and what they hold dear. Our rural communities are still in profound crisis as a result of this season, and I am resolved to secure the federal assistance needed for Oregon to recover and rebuild.”

“The 2024 wildfire season has been one of the most devastating and costly fire seasons on record,” wrote U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley as well as U.S. Reps. Earl Blumenauer, Suzanne Bonamici, Cliff Bentz, Val Hoyle, Andrea Salinas and Lori Chavez-DeRemer in their letter to the president. 

“Central and Eastern Oregon experienced intense heat waves this summer, which dried out vegetation and created extreme fire risk on the landscape. Severe lightning storms ignited a large number of fires, and windy conditions allowed many of these fires to spread rapidly.

“Over 1.9 million acres burned, making it the largest wildfire season by acreage in Oregon’s history. For context, the state’s 10-year average acres burned is 640,000 acres,” they wrote.

 “The estimated damages and cost to public infrastructure exceeds $650 million, and this figure does not account for the long-term loss in revenue local businesses will experience as a result of these fires.”

The request applies to six Oregon counties – Gilliam, Grant, Jefferson, Umatilla, Wasco, and Wheeler – that experienced significant damage and destruction to utility poles and lines, resulting in power, communication, and internet outages; disruptions to travel and the ability to conduct emergency responses; and mass sheltering needs for medically fragile, older adults and isolated persons without power.

“The fires destroyed 42 homes and 132 additional buildings and structures, damaged critical infrastructure and the natural environment, interrupted schools, care facilities, and social services, injured 26 civilians and fire responders, and led to the death of an air tanker pilot,” they wrote. “These fires have also created profound hardship for our ranchers, as they destroyed private and public grazing lands and cut off access to essential resources for livestock.”  

The governor also requested that the president waive the state’s share of the cost for emergency work in response to the disaster. The rural counties impacted by the wildfires have limited resources to support the standard share of the cost and the magnitude of state resources deployed across Oregon means state funding is insufficient to reimburse these communities.

Gov. Kotek declared a state of emergency from July 12 to Oct. 1, which mobilized emergency response across rural central and eastern Oregon to the threat of wildfire.

Throughout the season, she invoked the Emergency Conflagration Act a record 17 times to mobilize structural firefighting resources from the Oregon State Fire Marshal (OSFM) to local communities, and Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) mobilized thousands of wildland firefighting personnel.

In their letter supporting the governor’s request for federal disaster assistance, the Oregon lawmakers asked that state, local, and tribal governments have access to all available resources through the Federal Emergency Management Agency and that the state’s cost-share be waived due to a lack of available state funding. 

“Oregonians now require federal support and assistance to navigate the aftermath of this unprecedented fire season.  The back-to-back incidents and lack of basic services had a devastating effect on the safety and stamina of our fire crews,” the delegation wrote. “We urge you and your administration to swiftly provide the federal resources for our communities to recover and rebuild.” 

If the federal major disaster declaration is approved, it would provide supplemental grants through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Public Assistance Program for state, tribal, local governments, and certain private nonprofits for costs incurred for responding and recovering from wildfires between July 10 and September 7, 2024.

The federal government typically takes approximately six weeks after submission of a federal major disaster declaration request to respond.

The delegation’s letter is available on the KEPW 97.3 Whole Community News searchable documents site.