Oregon – Official Release: After nearly five years of information collection and analysis, the Oregon Department of Forestry has completed the 2020 Santiam Canyon Wildfire Event investigation report. The Santiam Canyon Wildfire Event is one of 18 fire events that took place over Labor Day week of 2020.
“We recognize the trauma that many Oregonians experienced during the Labor Day Fires, which is why the department is dedicated to making sure these investigations, and every investigation, are thorough and a complete picture of what happened.” Kyle Williams, Deputy of Fire Operations, said.
The Santiam Canyon Wildfire Event is comprised of 19 reports of fire located within the protection boundaries of ODF’s North Cascade District. Seven of which were caused by down powerlines but determined to not contribute to the spread of large fires in the Santiam Canyon. The seven ignitions were suppressed by residents and/or other fire personnel.
The remaining 12 reports of fire were determined to be caused by embers from the Beachie Creek Fire. The Oregon Department of Forestry did not investigate the Beachie Creek Fire because the U.S. Forest Service has jurisdiction over the fire.
There is no evidence of other causes of the fire spread within the Santiam Canyon.
“These types of investigations are rare for the agency.” said Levi Hopkins, Deputy Chief of Policy and Planning for ODF’s Protection Division. “Investigations of this complexity put extreme strain on the agency, past and present, and unfortunately it took longer than even we expected.”
Five investigators, internal to the department and contracted by ODF, were tasked with investigating all known and reported ignitions in the Santiam Canyon within ODF’s North Cascade District jurisdiction with the goal of creating impartial and objective determinations. The investigation team reviewed thousands of pages of documentation, written statements and conducted over 180 interviews with witnesses.
The department recognizes that this has been a long-anticipated report and that there are still several other reports from the 2020 Labor Day Fires that the public would like to see. The remaining reports are currently undergoing cost collection litigation to recoup firefighting costs and reduce financial impacts on taxpayers.
“The scale of work that these investigators were tasked with was massive.” Michael Curran, Protection Division Chief, said, “Cause and origin scene work, large numbers of witness interviews, collection and examination of potential physical evidence, review of extensive documentation and utilization of experts for 19 individual reports of fire requires meticulous organization and attention to detail.”
Starting Labor Day 2020, an extreme east-wind event resulted in the Oregon Department of Forestry suppressing several major wildfires that burned over a million acres from Southwest Oregon up to Northwest Oregon. The department is statutorily required to investigate every fire that ignited on ODF-protected lands and therefore the department investigated roughly 18 large incidents in Oregon that resulted from this one event.
ODF cannot divulge the particulars of ongoing investigations or litigation. ODF’s investigation is designed to objectively determine if someone is liable for a fire on ODF protected land to recoup fire suppression costs. The Oregon Department of Forestry is statutorily obligated to recoup costs in order to reduce the economic impact of a wildfire on Oregon taxpayers.
To learn more, visit the ODF investigations page.
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