Oregon Fire Marshal, Forestry Department prepare emergency wildfire funding requests for legislature

To stream KGW on your phone, you need the KGW app. Example video title will go here for this video SALEM, Ore. — Oregon's next scheduled legislative session isn't until next year, but lawmakers are headed back to Salem this week to convene the legislative Emergency Board that tackles urgent funding requests — and the Fire Marshal's Office (OFM) and Department of Forestry (ODF) have some big asks in the queue following this summer's record-breaking wildfire season. The season started off early due to dry conditions in March and April, according to ODF's presentation to the board, but remained relatively calm until a wave of lightning storms in mid-July triggered a month-long sprint for firefighters that rapidly catapulted 2026 to become Oregon's worst year on record in terms of total acres burned, even with the season settling back to a lower activity level in recent weeks. Using the 2024 cost as a baseline and accounting for inflation, the agency estimates the final cost for 2026 will be around $350 million.

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