ODF Has Collected $86,000 of the $24 million Spent Fighting Oregon Wildfires Over the Last Two Decades

Since 2004, the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) has spent at least $24 million responding to 36 major wildfires that were caused by malicious or negligent acts, but to date has collected a mere $86,000 in restitution and settlements for 17 of the oldest fires from ‘responsible parties’

Recouping Costs from Perpetrators is not Very Successful

If negligent or malicious acts spark wildfires, the ODF holds perpetrators financially responsible for firefighting costs. However, recouping those costs is not very successful and earlier this year the OFDs Emergency Fire Cost Committee called a special meeting to formulate a plan of action.

In its report, the EFCC reveals that ODF investigates the cause of every wildfire, and with 1,000 fires across the 16 million acres of forestland it protects, this is no small task.

At present, the ODF is seeking to recoup $15 million for 19 wildfires fought since 2011 and is investigating 21 fires of significance between 2020 and 2023. The department regards significant fires as those costing $5,000-plus to fight. The 2024 wildfire season has cost Oregon $250 million, of which $47.5 million will be covered after the Legislature recently voted to reimburse the ODF.

Chief of policy and planning in the fire protection division, Tim Holschbach, says that ODF has no choice but to ‘move on’ in many of the larger wildfire cases because the people involved in starting the blazes do not have the financial wherewithal to pay back millions of dollars.

Holschbach explains that it can cost ODF more for reimbursement attempts than to walk away. An example was the 2020 Sweet Creek Milepost 2 fire in Lane County which cost more than $4 million to extinguish. After an investigation, the arsonist responsible for the blaze could only pay $154 to the ODF.

The ODF Recouped $200,000 of the $37 Million it Cost to Fight the Creek Fire

In 2015, a man mowing his lawn during a restricted period of dry and hot conditions started the Creek Fire in Douglas County. The fire cost $37 million to extinguish after it scorched 26,000 acres but the department only recovered $200,000 from the culprit’s homeowner’s insurance policy.

He says effort should not exceed payback and that the ODF does not want to spend taxpayers’ dollars to pursue ‘someone who can’t pay.’ He said investigations can take years.

This year, wildfires set a record after devouring nearly two million acres across the state. This affects communities, infrastructure, and land needed for agriculture and grazing, says the report. The most common cause of fires is lightning.

Holschbach says that ODF is waiting for a report back on investigations by the U.S. Forest Service on the 2020 Holiday Farm Fire near Eugene that scorched 173,000 acres and was one of the largest wildfires ever recorded in the history of the state.

Another report is that of the Two Four Two Fire in the same year near the Williamson River Campground in Klamath Falls in which 2,000 acres burned.

Between 70% and 80% of wildfires are caused by people, but they are not generally willful, malicious, or negligent acts. Holschbach says it is hoped that the ODF’s wildfire awareness campaigns will help curb human-sourced fires by making the public aware of debris-burning and lawn-mowing restrictions during wildfire seasons.

The ODF also collects wildfire fees for protecting land owned by private owners and the federal government. At the same time, emergency fire costs that exceed the biennial firefighting budget are financed by the department’s Protection Fund and the state’s General Fund.