IMAGES/VIDEOS: Starting Labor Day weekend 2020, wildfires charred Oregon’s land, choked the air, and cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars — maybe billions. Six maps, charts and videos help to visualize what happened.
Mapping a state on fire
Starting Sept. 7, 2020, 21 fires burned across Oregon, most in the western third of the state.
The smoke rolls in
Footage from a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite shows wildfire smoke filling the sky above Oregon as fires spread across the state.
Mounting costs
There are many ways to count the cost of the Labor Day fires: the cost to state and local governments that responded to the flames, and then cleaned up the destruction; the cost to the forest products industry that saw millions of trees go up in smoke; and the cost to utility companies that are paying out hundreds of millions to people who sued over the fires. There is no single accounting of the true cost to Oregon.
Value of burned timber by owner
The Oregon Forest Resources Institute estimates that $7.5 billion in Oregon timber was lost during the 2020 Labor Day fires.
PacifiCorp verdicts
More than 1,600 people have joined in a class action suit against PacifiCorp over four distinct fires that may have been sparked by its power lines in Oregon. So far, juries have awarded $487 million in verdicts, and the case is far from over. The ultimate cost to the electric utility could be much higher.
Landscapes transformed
Over Labor Day weekend 2020, the Beachie Creek and Lionshead fires merged into the Santiam Canyon Fire.
