Wildfires have already burned more acres in Oregon this year than in any other season in the past 32 years, according to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center, which has data on burned acreage going back to 1992. And with the region’s fire activity typically peaking mid-August, the new record likely will end up dramatically beyond the previous mark.
Seventy-one large fires have scorched more than 1.4 million acres in the state since the 2024 wildfire season started, according to the center. In 2020, which was previously the record year for wildfire damage in Oregon, around 1.1 million acres were burned, center spokesperson Kyle Sullivan said.
“In 2020, when we had all that acreage, a lot of those acres came during the Labor Day fires in September,” he said.
This year the wildfire season started early, with huge fires sparking across the state in June and July.
That’s part of the reason there are so many fires now, Sullivan said, also pointing to dried-out fuels, heat, lightning storms and human actions.
Though Oregon wildfires in 2024 burned more acres than in 2020, so far they’ve been less destructive. At least 30 homes have been destroyed by large wildfires this year, compared to more than 4,000 in 2020.
In 2023, wildfires burned fewer than 120,000 acres in Oregon, according to the state’s website.
Gov. Tina Kotek declared a wildfire state of emergency in July. She’s also invoked the Emergency Conflagration Act nine times, most recently in response to the Elk Lane fire in Jefferson County.
That fire is 5,240 acres and 20% contained, according to the interagency center.
Crews are currently fighting 28 other large wildfires — defined as 100 or more acres in timberland or 300 acres or more in grassland — burning across the state. That includes five mega-fires, or fires topping 100,00 acres, of which at least two were caused by humans.
The interagency center reported the following data: the 182,766-acre Battle Mountain Complex fire is 48% contained; the 133,490-acre Cow Valley fire is 99% contained; the 294,265-acre Durkee fire is 97% contained; the 147,320-acre Falls fire is 76% contained; and the 137,222-acre Lone Rock fire is 92% contained.
The next six days could bring an elevated wildfire risk for parts of eastern Oregon, according to the center. In particular, significant lightning is forecasted on Friday in northeastern Oregon.
As crews gear up to face what has historically been a busy month for wildfire activity, Sullivan reminded the public to do their part to stop new fires from happening.
“It’s really important to get that prevention message out there,” he said. “There’s a lot of things we can do to stop human starts.”
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