Flames from the Double Creek Fire can be seen Monday behind a drone from the unmanned aircraft system operations for the fire.
Flames from the Double Creek Fire can be seen Monday behind a drone from the unmanned aircraft system operations for the fire.
Gov. Kate Brown recently asked President Joe Biden to approve a federal emergency declaration for Oregon due to the extreme wildfire conditions as the state shows 33 active fires that have burned more than 313,000 acres, as of Thursday.
Two fires combined, the Cedar Creek Fire burning near Waldo Lake and the Double Creek Fire burning near the Idaho state line, account for about 80% of the acreage.
If Brown's request is approved, the declaration would allow the state to access federal funds for wildfire response and preparation, said Bobbi Doan, a spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Emergency Management. This would include the cost of deploying firefighters and creating evacuation sites. Had the declaration been approved before the strong winds shut off power in many areas of Oregon last week, the state could have requested emergency power generators, Doan said.
Brown made her request Friday, Sept. 9 , one day after warning the state of dangerous weather conditions that weekend. In it, she described the extreme drought the state has been facing since March, and the red flag weather conditions — hot, dry winds and low humidity — seen over the weekend that prompted power shutoffs to around 50,000 people.
Brown wrote that the severity of the conditions and rapid growth of the number of wildfires would expand beyond the state and stress local government’s capabilities. The declaration would allow Oregon to partner with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide power emergency generation, communications, evacuation support, debris removal and prepare for future fires.
Brown specifically requested assistance in debris removal and emergency protective measures.
If approved, Oregon would be the first state to receive federal assistance for wildfires under the 1988 Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act.
“Oregon would be the first,” Brown said in a statement released Wednesday, "but unfortunately, certainly not the last to need this important assistance.”
While some evacuation orders have been lifted for several of Oregon’s large wildfires, the state's fire season is not over yet.
“We still have several weeks of peak fire season ahead of us,” Brown said in the statement.
The Cedar Creek Fire has burned 92,596 acres as of Thursday afternoon with no containment. Evacuation notices for areas around popular lakes, campgrounds, buttes and trails remain in affect, according to the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office.
On the eastern edge of the state, the Double Creek Fire has burned more than 157,000 acres on the eastern edge of the state and is 22% contained, according to InciWeb.
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