As wildfires burn nearly 1 million acres across Oregon, U.S Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden have sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of the Interior requesting additional federal assistance.
In the letter addressed to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the senators acknowledge that rapidly growing fires such as the Durkee fire, the nation’s largest, have stretched resources thin.
“The Oregon Department of Forestry and the Oregon State Fire Marshal have been working diligently to protect people and property from both human-caused and lightning-caused fires,” wrote the senators.
But firefighters have been working in remote areas with steep and treacherous terrain, often with lackluster communication infrastructure, the letter said.
The letter also calls on the federal agencies to expedite multiple requests for federal disaster declarations that will soon be submitted by Gov. Tina Kotek.
Wildfire season can last until October and drought in the state is expected to intensify, heightening the risk of significant fires caused by both lightning strikes and human activities, the senators said.
“Unfortunately, we have several more months of an intense wildfire season ahead of us,” wrote the senators.
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