After another scorching summer, Oregon’s landscape has once again been impacted by wildfire. The record-breaking 2024 wildfire season has kept residents from all around the state on their toes; more than 1.9 million acres of forest have been destroyed by wildfires. The largest wildfire of the 2024 season was the Durkee Fire, which started in the unincorporated community of Durkee. Durkee is located 25 miles southeast of Baker City and is the location of Oregon’s only cement plant. This fire ravaged the community and shut down I-84 for over two days. The Durkee Fire was the largest wildfire in the country at the time and the fifth largest in Oregon history.
While the Willamette Valley and coastal regions of Oregon have mostly been spared from the fires this year, the central and eastern parts of the state have been struggling. The majority of these fires started in early July when a heat wave combined with lightning strikes along the eastern part of the state sparked a large and brutal wave.
According to Oregon Live, “Foresters recorded more than 4,000 lightning strikes just in July.” During the early parts of August, there was a break in lightning strikes and fires altogether. But nearing Labor Day, lightning strikes started once again starting more wildfires.
The last year that 1 million acres were burned in Oregon was in 2020, when 1.2 million acres were affected. During the 2024 season, record-breaking lightning strikes, wind and heat combined to create 1.9 million acres of destruction.
There are many different causes of wildfires, but according to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), more than 85 percent of wildfires are human-caused. An example of this is during September of 2017 when a 15-year-old boy – during a burn ban – threw fireworks into a dry ravine inside of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. The resulting wildfire burned for over three months, scorching over 50,000 acres and causing over $5 million in damage. The 15-year-old was ordered to pay over $36 million in restitution.
To help preserve Oregon’s natural beauty, we need to first help keep the state green and the people safe. Our state has more than 30 million acres of forest that provide shelter for wildlife and food for people. Ecologists say we should be committed to keeping everyone and everything safe. We can do this by preventing wildfires and investing in fire safety. The number one cause of wildfires in the United States is humans, whether it’s someone throwing fireworks into a dry ravine or a campfire that gets out of control.
