Oregon wildfire costs hit record high of $514 million ’18

Published 5:00 pm Tuesday, October 9, 2018

SALEM, Ore. (AP) New data shows the cost of fighting wildfires in Oregon reached an all-time high $514.6 million in 2018.

According to data from Northwest Interagency Coordination Center, Oregon’s costs skyrocketed past last year’s record-setting total of $447 million.

The Statesman Journal reports that all totaled, Oregon had 1,880 fires that burned 846,411 acres or 1,322 square miles an area larger than Rhode Island.

The number of acres burned isn’t a record, but it’s well above historic averages and continues a trend of more extreme fire seasons.

The most expensive wildfires were in southwest Oregon, where a mid-July lightning storm ignited 160 wildfires during a historically hot and dry summer.

The biggest conflagration was the combination Klondike and Taylor Creek fires, which burned together west of Grants Pass. Combined, they torched 220,000 acres and cost $128 million.