This article is a summary of the 2023 Oregon wildfire season, comprising the series of significant

wildfire 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 ...

s that have burned in the U.S. 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 ...

since the beginning of the calendar year. Fire season officially began in all areas of the state by July 1, according to the

Oregon Department of Forestry The Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) is the agency of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon which performs a wide variety of functions relating to the management, regulation and protection of both public and private forest lands in the stat ...

(ODF). , the state had recorded 1,731 fires, which had burned a total of .

Outlook

Fire season in the Pacific Northwest often lasts from May until October. The National Interagency Coordination Center, in its seasonal fire assessment and outlook released in July, forecast above-normal significant fire potential in the Pacific Northwest through September. The August outlook continued this forecast, predicting that "Significant fire potential will be above average for the entire geographic area in August and September. In October, elevated risk of significant fires will shift west of the Cascades due to the likelihood of dry easterly winds in autumn. By November, significant fire risk will decrease back to normal (i.e., low) for the entire geographic area as cooler and wetter weather arrives." All Oregon Department of Forestry districts declared the beginning of fire season by July 1. The Northwest Coordination Center upgraded the region's preparedness level (referring to the availability of firefighting resources) from PL 1 to PL 2 on July 3, PL 3 on July 23, PL 4 on August 12, and PL5—the highest level—on August 19.

Impacts

Highway closures and wildfire smoke affected businesses in the vicinity of the Smith River Complex fire, burning in northern California and southern Oregon.

List of wildfires

The following is a list of Oregon wildfires in 2023 that have burned more than , have resulted in casualties or significant damage to structures, or have otherwise been notable. Acreage and containment figures may not be up-to-date.

Gallery

File:Flat Fire in S. Oregon on 2023-07-17.jpg, The Flat Fire on July 17 File:Bedrock Fire satellite image on 2023-08-01.jpg, The Bedrock Fire on August 1 File:2023 bull run camp fire - oregon 03.jpg, The Camp Creek Fire on September 9

References

External links

InciWeb – Incident Information System

Oregon Department of Forestry – Wildfire News

Oregon State Fire Marshal – Incident Information Blog

Central Oregon Fire Information

Oregon Smoke Information
{{2023 wildfires

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 ...