Oregon's 2026 Fire Season Began In March; It's Expected To End Sometime In October
Oregon’s wildfire season started early this year and is expected to last into October, according to state fire experts. The season is made more difficult by historic heat, drought and a potentially early El Niño weather pattern that could further stir up temperatures and lightning storms into the fall, fire officials said at a Tuesday news conference with Gov. Tina Kotek. Oregonians need to be proactive about protecting themselves and their properties from wildfire and behave far more cautiously when starting campfires or burning debris than in recent years, they advised. “It’s not one thing that brings the wildfire season, it’s many things,” Kotek said.
Although May is officially Wildfire Awareness Month, the season’s first Level 3 fire — meaning residents were ordered to evacuate immediately — occurred in La Pine in March, burning 20 acres. “All indications suggest a more challenging fire season ahead of all of us,” Kotek said. Oregon’s winter was among the warmest on record and snow-pack across the Northwest was one-third of normal levels, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Last year’s wildfire season burned significantly fewer Oregon acres than in previous years, in large part because the Oregon Legislature allocated hundreds of millions of additional dollars to the Oregon Department of Forestry and the Office of the State Fire Marshal. Both in turn beefed up preparation and response systems since the 2020 Labor Day Fires that became the most expensive in state history.
But most fires last year — more than 60% of wildfires — were started by humans, a disappointing reversal from years prior, which had human-caused fires trending downward. People burning yard waste and other debris is the number one cause of human-ignited wildfires, Oregon State Fire Marshal Mariana Ruiz-Temple said.
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https://oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2026/05/05/oregon-faces-longer-fire-season-due-to-historic-heat-drought-fire-experts-warn/