Firefighters and equipment from across Lincoln County deploy to battle blazes scorching southern, central and eastern Oregon

By GARRET JAROS/Lincoln Chronicle

Firefighters deployed from Lincoln County and across Oregon are battling wildfires covering 650,000 acres as they brace for a weather system expected to bring increased heat and the threat of lightning storms in areas of the state that are tinderbox dry or already ablaze.

That weather arrived on the central Oregon coast Wednesday morning bringing rolling thunder, lightning and rain.

Forty-five wildfires were burning Wednesday in central, eastern and southern Oregon, according to the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Office. But those numbers are fluid and shifting rapidly – increasing from 40 fires Tuesday afternoon – and include at least two “complex” fires, which are two or more individual fires in the same geographic area. The fires have brought evacuation notices to several communities along with heavy smoke that is spreading across the state.

Fire agencies in Lincoln County began sending firefighters and apparatus on July 11 to help battle the blazes, more deployed July 16 and then again Monday. Their primary function is protecting structures and infrastructure.

The deployments of 24 firefighters and 10 firefighting brush trucks, engines or water tenders and a command vehicle from six districts, was reduced to 16 firefighters and eight vehicles on Monday with the return of a strike team sent July 16 to assist with the East Evans Creek Road fire 14 miles northeast of Rogue River.

The personnel and departments from Lincoln County, which have sent a combination of career staff and volunteers, include 12 firefighters from North Lincoln Fire & Rescue (four of which returned Monday night); two from the Newport Fire Department; four from Depoe Bay (all returned Monday night); two each from the Seal Rock and Yachats fire districts; and two from Central Oregon Coast Fire & Rescue.

Ten firefighters from North Lincoln, Newport, Seal Rock and Central Coast are currently on the East Evans Creek fire. Six from North Lincoln, Newport and Yachats originally assigned to the Brewer Fire east of Madras have been reassigned to the Akawa Butte Fire 13 miles northeast of Sisters.

Akawa Butte covered 13,605 acres Wednesday and was only 3 percent contained. East Evans Creek covered 15,705 acres and was 26 percent contained.

Firefighters can be deployed for 14 days at a time before a required rest of 24 hours.

How deployments work

Tom Jackson, the Depoe Bay fire chief and head of the Lincoln County Fire Defense Board, told the Lincoln Chronicle that this year’s wildfire season was anticipated to be a challenge based on drought across the state and forecasted weather.

“Weather patterns changed and we’ve got more of a monsoonal flow that brings up more tropical storm systems where we see increased lightning strikes,” Jackson said. “And typically when we begin to see these increased lightning events is when we experience a bit more fire activity in the state. And that was forecasted and it seems to be coming to fruition. So I don’t think any of us are really surprised and we’re prepared and ready to answer the call.”

Firefighters across the state were mobilized after Gov. Tina Kotek invoked the state’s emergency conflagration act allowing the state fire marshal to call on additional resources through a statewide mutual aid system.

Jackson was deployed along with other Lincoln County firefighters to help with the southern California fires in January 2025.

“What’s really important is we want to go and help our neighbors,” Jackson said. “We want to be there when our fellow Oregonians are in need of help. We’ve always had that position. And there’s going to be times when we’re going to be reliant on our neighbors to help as well. So that is first and foremost.”

The departments and districts who send firefighters are reimbursed by the state fire marshal, which plans and budgets for the wildfire season. They are paid “rate-for-rate” amount for volunteers and a career firefighter’s normal hourly rate that includes overtime.

“It really turns out to be a wash,” Jackson said. “Really where the district begins to see the advantage of committing to these fires is when we send out a piece of equipment, that equipment gets charged an hourly rate. And then that (money) goes toward maintenance and repair and whatever is extra goes to the district. So yes, it’s a wash but it helps the district financially as well.”

The rate is $50 an hour for an apparatus from the time it leaves until it returns to the station.

Districts are able to cover the home front when staff and volunteers are called away to fight wildfires by backfilling with its career staff, Jackson said, but the county has about reached its limit.

“We’re probably at capacity right now,” he said. “I think any further drawdown might be a problem. Fortunately, the second team, strike team seven that was sent (July 16) to the Evans Creek fire has returned.”

• Garret Jaros covers the communities of Yachats, Waldport, south Lincoln County and natural resources issues for Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at [email protected]