During this dangerous and rapidly-evolving wildfire crisis, a new statewide website collects dozens of resources in one place.
STATEWIDE – Oregon is currently facing a statewide fire emergency. Over the last 72 hours, the state has experienced unprecedented fire, with significant damage and devastating consequences across the state. So the state of Oregon has created a one-stop-shop website for Oregonians seeking information about wildfire and resources for what to do next.
“I want to be upfront in saying that we expect to see a great deal of loss, both in structures and human lives,” said Governor Kate Brown in a press conference on Sept. 9. “This could be the greatest loss of human lives and property due to wildfire in our state’s history.”
Reports have indicated that the towns of Detroit in central Oregon, Blue River and Vida in Lane County, and Phoenix and Talent in Southern Oregon, are substantially destroyed. Hundreds of homes have been lost as Oregonians evacuate their homes across the state. More than 80,000 people have had to evacuate so far, with further evacuations continuing.
Fortunately, numerous Oregonians have been rescued from harm’s way, but many more Oregonians will need to evacuate their homes in the coming hours to ensure their safety.
However, Oregon is about to surpass 1 million acres burned across our state, which is over 1500 square miles. To put that into perspective, over the last ten years an average of 500,000 acres of Oregon burn in an entire year. We’ve seen nearly double that in the past 3 days.
Oregon has never seen this amount of uncontained fire across our state. Approximately 30-40,000 Oregonians have evacuated so far, and evacuations are ongoing. Please stay vigilant and listen to your local officials and firefighters.
“If you’re advised to evacuate, please do so immediately,” Governor Brown said. “You may not get a second chance.”
Please visit wildfire.oregon.gov to sign up for alerts from your local emergency management agency, get the most up-to-date evacuation maps, and to access information about how to prepare to evacuate. Longer term resources such as insurance claims, debris removal, and records replacement will be added as the state moves from short-term emergency into longer-term recovery.
