2017 Oregon wildfires

2017 Oregon wildfires
US West Coast August 29, 2017 (satellite image). Large fires visible in the Washington and Oregon Cascades, with smoke from Oregon flowing north.
Date(s)June–October, 2017
Statistics
Total fires1,069
Total area451,863 acres (1,828.62 km2)
Season
2018 →

The 2017 Oregon wildfires were a series of wildfires that burned over the course of 2017.

The 2017 fire season in the state of Oregon was a particularly notable one. There has been a trend for the last three decades that shows an increase in the overall number of wildfires as well as the fire season length in the state of Oregon.[1] In 2017 Oregon experienced a total of 1,069 reported wildfires: with 779 human ignited and 290 ignited by lightning strikes.[2] These fires burned a total area of 451,863 acres.[3] The catalyst for these fires was the abnormal weather patterns that persisted throughout 2017.

Fire season typically begins in Oregon in May.[4] Fires burning through September 2017 led to the month being dubbed "Smoketember" in Oregon,[5] with air quality in western Oregon listed from "Unhealthy" to "Hazardous" in early weeks. NASA published images of the Oregon, shown the typically green state to be highly obscured by smoke, as seen from space.[6] 2017 was unusual for the large number of fires occurring west of the Cascade Range in dense Douglas-fir forest in contrast to the frequent-fire pine ecosystems to the east.

Large fires include the Chetco Bar Fire in Curry County, Oregon, and the Eagle Creek Fire in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, which was started by illegal fireworks use.[7] Fires in the Columbia River Gorge shut down Interstate 84, the state's major east–west freeway, for several days in early September.[8]

  1. ^ Ana, Barros; Alan, Ager; Michelle, Day; Haiganoush, Preisler; Thomas, Spies; Eric, White; Robert, Pabst; Keith, Olsen; Emily, Platt; John, Bailey; John, Bolte (February 24, 2017). "Spatiotemporal dynamics of simulated wildfire, forest management, and forest succession in central Oregon, USA". Ecology and Society. 22 (1). doi:10.5751/ES-08917-220124. ISSN 1708-3087.
  2. ^ "Oregon Department of Forestry - Daily Fire Statistics". www.odf.state.or.us.
  3. ^ "OREGON Incidents". InciWeb, Incident Information System. Archived from the original on December 9, 2017. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference OPB was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Smoketember in Oregon: Smoke shrouding Beaver State visible from space". KVAL. August 31, 2017. Retrieved September 20, 2017.
  6. ^ "Smoke Obscures Much of the Pacific Northwest". NASA. July 31, 2017. Retrieved September 20, 2017.
  7. ^ Wilson, Anna Griffin | Conrad. "Eagle Creek Fire Witness: Young Hikers Giggled As Firecracker Descended Into Gorge Canyon". www.opb.org. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
  8. ^ Ryan, Jim (September 13, 2017). "Columbia gorge fire now 13% contained; I-84 in Oregon remains closed". The Oregonian. Retrieved September 14, 2017.