Story at a glance
- Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) on Wednesday declared a state of emergency amid a wildfire covering thousands of acres and extreme heat in the Pacific Northwest.
- “With wildfires already sparking this year, it is imperative that we act now to prevent further loss—of life, property, business, and our natural resources,” Brown said.
- The extreme heat wave spreading throughout the region complicates wildfire management.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) on Wednesday declared a state of emergency amid a wildfire covering thousands of acres and extreme heat in the Pacific Northwest.
Brown said in a news release her decision is aimed at mitigating damage by ensuring “every resource is made available for firefighting efforts” across the state, adding that the state is still recovering from the the loss of life and property brought on by the previous year’s fires.
“With wildfires already sparking this year, it is imperative that we act now to prevent further loss—of life, property, business, and our natural resources,” Brown said.
“With fire seasons increasingly starting earlier and lasting longer, it is up to each of us to do our part to prevent wildfires and be prepared for the ones we can’t prevent,” Brown continued. “I am urging Oregonians to take charge in preventing human-caused fires by being prepared, safe, responsible, and aware.”
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The Democratic governor also invoked the state’s Emergency Conflagration Act in view of a wildfire that began Tuesday night and is roughly 10,000 acres in size. The Wrentham Market Fire has resulted in evacuations in part of Wasco County. Brown’s executive action placed the state’s fire marshal in charge of oversight and streamlining resources from neighboring counties.
“With high temperatures and weather conditions helping fires grow quickly, I have invoked the Emergency Conflagration Act to make more state resources available to the fire crews on the front lines in Wasco County at the Wrentham Market Fire,” Brown said.
The extreme heat wave spreading throughout the region has also complicated wildfire management. So far, there have been 63 deaths in Oregon that “preliminary investigation suggests may be associated with the Pacific Northwest heat wave,” Oregon State Police spokesperson Capt. Timothy R. Fox said, according to CNN.
Oregon’s 2020 fire season was the second largest in state history, the Statesman Journal reported. Fires consumed more than 1.07 million acres and cost roughly $354 million. Wildfires between 2012 and 2020 burn on average 650,000 acres per year, according to the outlet.
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