PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek signed a bill on Friday allocating $218 million to cover costs after the state's historic wildfire season.
The Oregon legislature passed the funding package, under Senate Bill 5801, during a special session on Thursday.
The bill allocates $191.5 million Oregon Department of Forestry and $26.6 million to the Oregon State Fire Marshall to pay firefighters, local fire services and vendors who responded to the state's wildfires. More than half of those funds will be reimbursed to the federal government, the governor's office said.
The bill comes after Kotek called for a special session in the Oregon legislature after 2024's wildfire season saw a record 1.9 million acres burned. This exceeded the state’s 10-year average of 640,000 acres burned per season and incurred costs upwards of $350 million, the governor’s office said.
"This summer's wildfire season called for sacrifice, courage, and cooperation from everyone involved. It was an all hands on deck effort to protect life, land, and property," Gov. Kotek said in a statement. "I am grateful to legislators for taking swift action to ensure the state's fire season costs are addressed and the bills are paid. Next year, I look forward to working with legislators to ensure the state finds a pathway for sustainable funding to cover wildfire costs in the years ahead."
In a statement, Oregon Department of Forestry Director Cal Mukumoto said, “This summer, the Governor made clear the state’s commitment to protecting Oregonians, their communities and our state’s natural resources,” adding, “In this special session, the Governor and the Legislature underscored their commitment, and for that we’re incredibly appreciative. As soon as funds are available to us, it will be all hands on deck for our finance team to get payments to the vendors who provided critical services all summer. This will be our top priority until we get through all the invoices pending in the system.”
"I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to all the firefighters, ranchers, landowners, and countless others for their incredible effort during a record-setting season," State Fire Marshal Mariana Ruiz-Temple said.
She added, "We are thankful to have received the funding we requested. It reimburses our agency for the money paid to local fire agencies who stepped up to help their fellow Oregonians. We continue to pay these agencies as the invoices are received. This funding is critical to sustaining essential programs and services that protect Oregonians. We are working alongside our partners to find solutions to fix Oregon’s wildfire funding problem.”
The bill comes as Kotek’s recommended budget for the 2025-27 biennium calls for at least $130 million to modernize Oregon’s wildfire readiness and mitigation programs on an ongoing basis.
The governor recommended an additional $150 million to be redirected from state services to instead cover wildfire suppression costs.
In total, Oregon's 2024 wildfire season saw 1,956 fires that burned 1,937,512 acres. “Extreme infernos” hit Gilliam, Grant, Jefferson, Umatilla, Wasco, and Wheeler counties the hardest, destroying at least 42 homes, 132 structures. The fires also killed an air tanker pilot and injured 26 civilians and fire responders.
