Oregon has now invoked the Emergency Conflagration Act three times in 2026, with the most recent activation occurring Wednesday, July 16, for the Lower Dry Creek Fire in Umatilla County. The rapid succession of emergency declarations in a single fire season raises questions about Oregon's firefighting capacity and the adequacy of current funding models.

What the Conflagration Act Does

Oregon's Emergency Conflagration Act, ORS 476.510–476.610, authorizes the State Fire Marshal to requisition firefighting equipment and personnel from any public agency, utility district, or other entity when a wildfire threatens life or property on a scale beyond local response capabilities. The act essentially allows Oregon to pull resources from across the state under emergency authority.

Governor Kotek's three invocations in 2026 are a significant number for a single season. Historically, the act has been invoked only during the most severe fire events. Three activations by mid-July signals an unusually severe and early fire season.

Resource and Funding Pressures

Each Conflagration Act activation deploys additional personnel and equipment — at significant cost. The Lower Dry Creek Fire has already received a FEMA Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG), which will reimburse up to 75% of the state's eligible firefighting costs. But the remaining 25% state share, plus costs for fires that do not receive FMAGs, places substantial pressure on Oregon's fire suppression budget.

Oregon has been working to update its fire funding model following years of suppression cost overruns that required emergency legislative transfers. Advocates for fire-affected communities have pushed for greater investment in pre-suppression, prescribed fire, and forest management to reduce the fire risk that drives these costs.

Broader Policy Debate

The 2026 fire season is playing out against a national backdrop of increasing scrutiny of wildland fire policy. Key debates include:

  • 10-year average funding fix: Congress has previously addressed the "fire borrowing" problem by securing mandatory funding for suppression costs above a 10-year average baseline — a fix that has helped stabilize agency budgets but does not address the underlying risk
  • Prescribed fire expansion: Both the USFS and Oregon ODF have expanded prescribed burn programs, but progress has been slow due to air quality rules, liability concerns, and workforce constraints
  • Good Neighbor Authority: Collaborative state-federal forest management agreements have enabled more landscape-scale hazardous fuel reduction work in Oregon, but implementation remains uneven

Community Resilience

The Oregon Office of Emergency Management and county emergency management offices are coordinating closely with fire agencies to manage evacuation logistics, shelter operations, and public communications during the current multi-fire outbreak. Red Cross shelters have been activated in multiple counties.

State officials and fire managers have emphasized that community preparedness — defensible space, evacuation planning, and alert enrollment — remains the most important factor in protecting lives when fires inevitably occur. Oregonians in fire-prone areas are urged not to wait for official warnings before taking protective actions.