Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek on called this year’s wildfire season “unprecedented.”
She also issued a reminder: It’s not over yet.
At a news conference with officials from multiple state agencies, Kotek revealed more than 1.5 million acres have burned this year. That’s more than double the 10-year average of 640,000 acres.
Thirty-two homes and 99 outbuildings have been destroyed, and the fires have cost $214 million to fight.
The governor acknowledged the hard work crews have put in fighting the fires.
“People have been putting their personal lives on the line, putting them on hold, being out there every single day for weeks now, and I just want to say thank you, to our firefighters, our support crews, our incident commanders who have been fighting these fires, keeping our communities safe and keeping people safe,” Kotek said.
She said 6,500 people across the Pacific Northwest are out in the field working to put out the fires.
“Because of the hard work of the folks here and all the crews across the state, we’ve been able to protect a lot of communities,” Kotek said. “But I can tell you this team, and what we’ve been doing this season, has been pushed to the brink. We have tapped into every resource we can.”
The governor noted the most dangerous part of fire season usually comes at the end of August and beginning of September.
Priorities include reinforcing control lines on existing fires and watching for changing weather conditions.
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