'Extreme infernos': Oregon seeks major disaster declaration after record fire season

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Oregon lawmakers sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Thursday asking him to approve Gov. Tina Kotek's major disaster declaration request after 2024's record-breaking wildfire season scorched about three-times the average acreage burned, according to the lawmakers.

The letter was signed by Oregon’s entire bipartisan congressional delegation, who said 2024 brought "one of the most devastating and costly fire seasons on record."

“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,” the lawmakers 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.“

Severe storms and “extreme infernos” hit Gilliam, Grant, Jefferson, Umatilla, Wasco, and Wheeler counties the hardest, the lawmakers added, noting the fires destroyed 42 homes and 132 other structures, injured 26 civilians and fire responders, and led to the death of an air tanker pilot.

On Monday, Kotek sent a letter to Biden requesting the declaration. If approved, the declaration would unlock FEMA grants for state, tribal, and local governments, along with some private nonprofits for costs incurred for wildfire response and recovery between July 10 and Sept. 7, 2024.

The governor also asked Biden to waive Oregon's cost-share for the declaration because of a lack of state funding.

“I am asking President Biden and the federal government to provide relief to the rural Oregon communities who weathered an unprecedented, destructive wildfire season,” Kotek said in a Thursday press release. “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.”

Kotek said the wildfires caused significant damage to utility poles and power lines – leading to power, communication, and internet outages, along with disruptions to emergency responses, and mass sheltering needs for people who are medically fragile, older adults, and people without power.

In 2024, Oregon also saw five "mega fires," which the U.S. Interagency Fire Center defines as a wildfire that reaches at least 100,000 acres.

In late July, KOIN 6 News reported that the total number of acres burned at that point in the 2024 wildfire season surpassed the size of Rhode Island, with the Durkee Fire in Baker County at one point being the largest active wildfire in the U.S.

The governor’s office explained the federal government usually takes about six weeks to respond to federal major disaster declaration requests.