The 2017 Oregon wildfires were a series of

wildfires A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...

that burned over the course of 2017. The 2017 fire season in the state of

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

was a particularly notable one. There has been a trend for the last three decades that shows an increase in the overall number of

as well as the fire season length in the state of Oregon. In 2017 Oregon experienced a total of 1,069 reported wildfires: with 779 human ignited and 290 ignited by lightning strikes. These fires burned a total area of 451,863 acres. The catalyst for these fires was the abnormal weather patterns that persisted throughout 2017. Fire season typically begins in Oregon in May. Fires burning through September 2017 led to the month being dubbed "Smoketember" in Oregon, with air quality in western Oregon listed from "Unhealthy" to "Hazardous" in early weeks.

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

published images of the Oregon, shown the typically green state to be highly obscured by smoke, as seen from space. 2017 was unusual for the large number of fires occurring west of the Cascade Range in dense Douglas-fir forest in contrast to the frequent-fire pine ecosystems to the east. Large fires include the

Chetco Bar Fire The Chetco Bar Fire was a wildfire in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness, Oregon, United States. The fire, which was caused by a lightning strike and first reported on July 12, 2017. It burned as of November 4, when it was declared 100% contained. The C ...

Curry County, Oregon Curry County is the southwesternmost county in the U.S. state of Oregon located on the South Coast. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,446. The county seat is Gold Beach. The county is named for George Law Curry, a two-time govern ...

, and the

Eagle Creek Fire The Eagle Creek Fire was a destructive wildfire in the Columbia River Gorge, largely in the U.S. state of Oregon, with smaller spot-fires in Washington. The fire was started on September 2, 2017, by a 15-year-old boy igniting fireworks duri ...

in the

Columbia River Gorge The Columbia River Gorge is a canyon of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Up to deep, the canyon stretches for over as the river winds westward through the Cascade Range, forming the boundary between the state ...

National Scenic Area, which was started by illegal fireworks use. Fires in the Columbia River Gorge shut down Interstate 84, the state's major east–west freeway, for several days in early September.

2017 climate in Oregon

The 2016/2017 winter in Oregon was the second wettest winter in the past 75 years. Between the dates of October 1, 2016, and April 26, 2017,

Portland International Airport Portland International Airport is a joint civil–military airport and the largest airport in the U.S. state of Oregon, accounting for 90% of the state's passenger air travel and more than 95% of its air cargo. It is within Portland's city li ...

received 45.5 inches (116 centimeters) of rain. The month of February 2017 was the wettest February on record in Oregon with 10.36 inches (26 centimeters) of rain. During the month of August, the weather station at Portland International Airport recorded a monthly average temperature of 73.6 degrees Fahrenheit (23.1 C) with the daily average temperature hitting 87 degrees Fahrenheit (30.5 C). The average temperature during the month of August 2017 was five degrees higher than the average August temperature recorded since 1941. It stands to be the second hottest August on record. The extreme winter and summer weather that occurred in 2017 was met by some dangerous weather patterns in the late summer months. Early August through September in Southern Oregon saw several waves of thunderstorms. These storm systems brought rainfall which helped slow the growth of existing wildfires. However, the storms also brought lighting which resulted in the ignition of new fires. These storms travel on fast moving paths. After one these storms moves over an area, it quickly returns to a hot dry state. This allows for the newly ignited fires to spread quickly and develop into full wildfires.

Significance of the 2017 fire season

The future climate in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

is expected to be significantly different. Projections show that annual temperatures will rise faster than the global norm. Although temperatures will be higher, winters are expected to experience more rainfall. These seasonal extremes are exactly the type of trends that were experienced in 2017. Climatic patterns such as these provide ample rainfall throughout the spring which allows for high rates of plant growth. The high temperatures in the summer then quickly dries up the new growth. This leads to large spread availability of dry grasses and small diameter fuels. The combination of these climate driven phenomenon are what led to the extreme fire season in Oregon in 2017.

Cheatgrass

Another problem plaguing Oregon in 2017 was invasive

cheatgrass ''Bromus tectorum'', known as downy brome, drooping brome, or cheatgrass, is a winter annual grass native to Europe, southwestern Asia, and northern Africa, but has become invasive in many other areas. It now is present in most of Europe, south ...

. This grass has its origins in Eurasia and has become a huge problem in Oregon. In burned areas this grass quickly replaces native vegetation such as

sagebrush Sagebrush is the common name of several woody and herbaceous species of plants in the genus ''Artemisia (plant), Artemisia''. The best-known sagebrush is the shrub ''Artemisia tridentata''. Sagebrush is native to the western half of North Amer ...

. Cheatgrass is especially dangerous in regards to wildfires because it is highly dependent on water and typically dries out a month before native Oregon grasses. The high rainfall in 2017 allowed cheatgrass to spread abundantly throughout eastern Oregon. In areas that have cheatgrass, fire seasons have essentially been lengthened by a month due to the sooner availability of fuel. Due to its ability to both cause fires and repopulate burned areas cheatgrass is in a positive feedback loop of continual dispersal.

Human-ignited fires

Three hikers observe damage from Eagle Creek fire in May 2023

Oregon’s population has been in a steady state of growth for the last three decades. With higher populations comes higher risk of human ignited forest fires. 2017 saw the devastating effects of human influenced fires. The Eagle Creek Fire burned 48,831 acres of land. This fire was ignited by a smoke bomb carelessly thrown by a 15-year-old boy. Something as simple as the exhaust pipe of a car or a cigarette out of a car window can start a devastating fire.

Wildfires

The following is a list of wildfires that burned more than , or produced significant structural damage or loss of life Others fires include: * Ana Fire * Blanket Creek Fire * Indian Creek Fire * Upper Mine Fire * Horse Prairie Fire –

Douglas County, Oregon Douglas County is one of the List of counties in Oregon, 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 111,201. The county seat is Roseburg, Oregon, Roseburg. Oregon Geographic ...

* Jade Creek Fire –

Fremont–Winema National Forest The Fremont–Winema National Forest is a United States National Forest formed from the 2002 merger of the Fremont and Winema National Forests. They cover territory in southern Oregon from the crest of the Cascade Range on the west past the c ...

* Potato Hill Fire –

Willamette National Forest The Willamette National Forest is a United States National Forest, National Forest located in the central portion of the Cascade Range of the U.S. state of Oregon. It comprises . Over 380,000 acres (694 mi2, 1,540 km2) are National Wil ...

Nash Fire The Nash Fire is a wildfire that occurred in the Deschutes National Forest and Willamette National Forest, on the southwest slope of the South Sister Mountain in Oregon in the United States. The fire, which was started by lightning, started on ...

–

and

Deschutes National Forest The Deschutes National Forest is a United States national forest (NF) located in Central Oregon, in parts of Deschutes, Klamath, Lake, and Jefferson counties. It was established in 1908, with border changes following in 1911 and 1915. The f ...

* North Pelican Fire – Fremont-Winema National Forest

Fires on ODF land

The majority of the burned area within Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) held land occurred within the SOA fire region which includes the districts: Southwest, Coos, Douglas, South Cascade, and Western Lane. The SOA fire region experienced 38,384.33 acres of burned land. The EOA fire region had the second highest amount of burned area and includes the fire districts of: Central Oregon, Northeast Oregon, Klamath- Lake, and Walker Range. This fire region experienced a total of 4,992.6 acres of burned land. The NOA saw the least amount of area burned but still had 151 individual fires ignited within the region. The NOA fire region includes the fire districts of: Tillamook, Astoria, Forest Grove, West Oregon, and North Cascade. The fires in this region accounted for a total of 2168.88 acres of burned land. In 2017 the Oregon Department of Forestry had 45,681.5 acres of land burned in their forests.

References

External links

Wildfire tracker
from ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the West Coast of the United States, U.S. West Coast, founded as a weekly by Tho ...

'' {{Oregon wildfires Wildfires in Oregon by year