Oregonians can expect more lightning-caused wildfires through Monday, July 22, and should do their best to prepare.

Gov. Tina Kotek, alongside representatives from the departments of forestry, Emergency Management and the State Fire Marshal, said in a press conference July 19 it’s going to be a long wildfire season.

“Our wildfire season is off to a very aggressive start,” Kotek said. “Thousands of lightning strikes earlier this week resulted in over 100 new fires detected just so far.”

The governor said wildland firefighter teams from multiple entities and states are working together to respond to the fires. She added that Oregonians should expect new fires to start this weekend due to high temperatures and a lightning storm anticipated to move across the state from south-central to northeast, with the tail end of the system coming through Northeastern Oregon on July 22.

“We’ve got some pretty challenging weather situations upon us,” said Kyle Williams, deputy director of fire operations for the Oregon Department of Forestry. “The fires we’ve got now may just be the beginning.”

The fuel condition looks like what is typical of later in the fire season, Williams said, so the more fires that can be prevented from human causes, the easier it will be to contain the environmentally caused ones.

“We are fighting fire like it’s Aug. 19, not July 19,” Oregon State Fire Marshal Mariana Ruiz-Temple said.

She added residents need to be very aware of evacuation levels, which are evolving alongside changes in the fires.

Oregon has two megafires, each at more than 100,000 acres. The first was the Cow Valley fire in Malheur County, which is now 78% contained at 133,000 acres. The second is the Falls Fire in the Burns area, which is 15% contained at 121,000. Both are human-caused, according to the Inciweb wildfire database.

Williams said the Falls Fire, which started a day before the Cow Valley Fire, continues to be a challenge to fight. He added ODF’s efforts are focused on containing the megafires to then be able to spread resources to other areas, but urges Oregonians to prevent sparking fires.

Small fires cause problems, too

In other parts of Eastern Oregon, the Lone Rock Fire covers more than 116,000 acres and is 40% contained as of July 21. A press release from the Umatilla National Forest said there was notable fire growth on July 17 at the fire’s south end, crossing into the Heppner Ranger District in Morrow County.

Near Ukiah, south of Pendleton, the Battle Mountain Complex fires total around 6,400 acres between the Snake and Owens fires. The Oregon Department of Forestry Incident Management Team 3 as well as dozers and engines are working to suppress the fire. The complex reached the Ukiah Ranger District on the southeast edge of the Snake Fire.

And near Durkee, south of Baker City, more than 116,000 acres have burned so far.

“This Durkee fire is relatively newly emerging last couple of days,” Williams said. “It’s making some significant runs. We’ve got our Rangeland (Fire) Protection Associations heavily engaged in this part of the state and helping fight this fire as well as the (State Fire Marshal’s) resources.”

In addition to the major fires that appear on tracking maps, such as that of the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center, there are a multitude of small fires taxing the resources of fire districts across the state as teams try to protect structures. There have been structures burned in various fires so far this year, Ruiz-Temple said.

‘Doing everything we can’

Erin McMahon, the director of the Oregon Department of Emergency Management, said her team is working with local emergency managers to ensure they have the resources they need. She recommended subscribing to an emergency alert system, such as ORAlert.gov, which offers specific county-based notifications. McMahon also recommended residents pay attention to the changing alert levels and have go bags ready in case a quick evacuation is necessary.

For people with property or livestock that have been affected by the fires, there will be information about recovery programs at wildfire.oregon.gov once assessments of damage are complete.

“I think the big message right now is this is a lot right now,” Kotek said. “We’re doing everything we can with the resources we have, and we are going to need everyone’s assistance to make sure this doesn’t get worse. Mother Nature might not cooperate with us and the conditions on the ground are not great, so people need to be aware, do their part.”