2018 wildfire season in the U.S. state of Oregon
2018 Oregon wildfires Thunderstorms over the weekend of July 14-15 brought thousands of lightning strikes to the state of Oregon, starting 150 wildfires. Fires on the Umpqua, Rogue River, Winema, and Siskiyou National Forests are seen in this July 18, 2018, NASA satellite photo.
Total fires 2,019 Total area 897,263 acres (3,631.09 km2 )
Wildfires in the U.S. state of Oregon in 2018 include the Boxcar Fire , Graham Fire , and Jack Knife Fire .[ 3]
In July, one person was killed by the Substation Fire ,[ 4] Charles E. Nelson House .
Background
"Fire season" in Oregon typically begins in mid-May and ends with the first rains that normally begins in late September. Drought , snowpack levels, and local weather conditions play a role in Oregon's fire season, particularly in Eastern and Southwest Oregon. During peak fire season from July to September, most wildfires are caused by lightning , while ignitions in the early and later parts of the season are related to humans. Warm, dry conditions in summer heighten the wildfire risk. After over 100 years of fire suppression and prevention of all fires, there is now an abundance of fuel. Climate change is leading to a reduced snowpack with an earlier and reduced snowmelt , so there is a higher risk for areas that receive wildfires.[ 5]
Wildfires
The following is a list of fires that burned more than 1,000 acres, or produced significant structural damage or loss of life.
Name
County
Acres
Start date
Containment date[ a]
Status
Notes
Ref
Boxcar Wasco 100,207
June 21, 2018
July 6, 2018
Contained
Lightning-caused. Portions of U.S. Route 197 closed and evacuations issued for Maupin
[ 7] [ 8]
Graham Jefferson 2,175
June 21, 2018
July 4, 2018
Contained
Lightning-caused. Threatened structures and burned near Lake Billy Chinook .
[ 9] [ 10]
Jack Knife Sherman 15,676
June 22, 2018
July 6, 2018
Contained
Lightning-caused. Burned east of Maupin near John Day River .
[ 11] [ 12]
Klondike Josephine 175,258
July 15, 2018
November 6, 2018
Contained
Lightning-caused. Burned near the Illinois River and evacuations issued for Galice , Merlin , and communities along U.S. Route 199 .
[ 13] [ 14]
Taylor Creek
Josephine 52,839
July 15, 2018
Contained
Lightning-caused. Evacuations near Rogue River and Grants Pass . Portion of Rogue River closed.
[ 15] [ 16]
Garner Complex
Josephine 8,886
July 15, 2018
August 14, 2018
Contained
Included Grave Fires, Pleasant Creek Fire, and Spencer Fires. Burned north of Rogue River with evacuations for Wimer .
[ 17] [ 18]
Hendrix
Jackson 1,082
July 15, 2018
August 14, 2018
Contained
Lightning-caused. Burned in Little Applegate River area southwest of Ashland . Evacuations for Ruch .
[ 19] [ 18]
Miles
Jackson , Douglas 54,334
July 15, 2018
Contained
Sugar Pine, South Umpqua Complex and Miles fire merged
[ 20] [ 21]
Timber Crater 6
Klamath 3,126
July 15, 2018
August 16, 2018
Contained
Lightning-caused. Burned in northeast corner of Crater Lake National Park .
[ 22] [ 23]
Substation Wasco 78,425
July 17, 2018
August 2, 2018
Contained
Possibly human-caused. Burned close to The Dalles . Evacuations near Moro and Grass Valley . Killed one person and destroyed the Charles E. Nelson House .
[ 24] [ 25]
Long Hollow Wasco 33,451
July 26, 2018
August 14, 2018
Contained
Caused by farming equipment. Evacuations along the Deschutes River .
[ 26] [ 27]
Lake Wallula
Umatilla 12,462
July 29, 2018
July 30, 2018
Contained
Unknown cause. Burned along U.S. Route 730 .
[ 28] [ 29]
South Valley Wasco 20,026
August 1, 2018
August 10, 2018
Contained
Human-caused. Evacuations for 500 people south of Dufur . Closed portion of U.S. Route 197 closed.
[ 30] [ 31]
Watson
Lake 16,227
August 15, 2018
Contained
Started from a vehicle conducting maintenance on Paradise Creek allotment. Burned in Fremont-Winema National Forest .
[ 32] [ 33]
Notes
^ Containment means that fire crews have established and secured control lines around the fire's perimeter. These lines are artificial barriers, like trenches or cleared vegetation, designed to stop the fire's spread, or natural barriers like rivers. Containment reflects progress in managing the fire but does not necessarily mean the fire is starved of fuel, under control, or put out.[ 6]
References
^ "2018 National Year-to-Date Report on Fires and Acres Burned by State" (PDF) . NIFC . Retrieved August 20, 2020 .^ "Southern Area Coordination Center" . Southern Area Coordination Center . Retrieved July 7, 2018 .^ "Three large Oregon fires burning across more than 116,000 acres almost contained" . OregonLive.com . Retrieved July 6, 2018 .^ Parks, Molly Solomon | Bradley W. "1 Person Dead In Ongoing Substation Fire Near The Dalles, Oregon" . www.opb.org . Retrieved July 19, 2018 . ^ "Oregon Fire Season: In-Depth Guide" . wfca.com . Western Fire Chiefs Association. Retrieved June 7, 2025 .^ "What containment and other wildfire related terms mean" . Los Angeles: KCAL-TV . September 12, 2024. Retrieved July 25, 2025 .^ "Boxcar Fire" . National Wildfire Coordinating Group . Retrieved August 1, 2018 .^ Gibson, Mark (August 27, 2020). "Boxcar fire burns near Maupin" . Columbia Gorge News . Retrieved May 21, 2025 . ^ "Graham Fire" . National Wildfire Coordinating Group . Retrieved August 1, 2018 .^ Loew, Tracy (June 24, 2018). "Boxcar Fire grows to 87,000 acres; evacuation lifted at Graham Fire" . Statesman Journal . Retrieved May 21, 2025 . ^ "Jack Knife Fire" . National Wildfire Coordinating Group the original on July 11, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2018 .^ "Boxcar Fire and Jack Knife Fire Update 6/25 9 AM" . centraloregonfire.org . Retrieved May 21, 2025 .^ "Klondike Fire" . National Wildfire Coordinating Group the original on August 2, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2018 .^ "Taylor Creek Fire and Klondike Fire" (PDF) . fire.ak.blm.gov . Alaska Incident Management Team. Retrieved May 21, 2025 .^ "Taylor Creek Fire" . National Wildfire Coordinating Group . Retrieved August 1, 2018 .^ Urness, Zach; Woodworth, Whitney (July 31, 2018). "Southern Oregon wildfires: Taylor Creek Fire closes section of Rogue River" . KGW . Retrieved May 21, 2025 . ^ "Garner Complex Fire" . National Wildfire Coordinating Group . Retrieved August 1, 2018 .^ a b Davis, David; Urness, Zach (July 24, 2018). "Southern Oregon fires: Air quality worst in United States, but area avoids new lightning fires" . Statesman Journal . Retrieved May 24, 2025 . ^ "Hendrix Fire" . National Wildfire Coordinating Group . Retrieved August 1, 2018 .^ "Sugar Pine Fire" . National Wildfire Coordinating Group . Retrieved August 1, 2018 .^ "South Umpqua Complex Fire" . National Wildfire Coordinating Group . Retrieved August 1, 2018 .^ "Timber Crater 6 Fire" . National Wildfire Coordinating Group . Retrieved August 1, 2018 .^ Davis, David; Urness, Zach (July 24, 2018). "Crews battling the Timber Crater 6 Fire successfully prevent blaze from growing" . Statesman Journal . Retrieved May 24, 2025 . ^ "Substation Fire" . National Wildfire Coordinating Group . Retrieved August 1, 2018 .^ Cruz Guevarra, Ericka; Templeton, Amelia; VanderHart, Dirk (July 19, 2018). "Substation Fire Now Nation's Top Firefighting Priority" . Oregon Public Radio . Retrieved May 24, 2025 . ^ "Long Hollow Fire" . National Wildfire Coordinating Group . Retrieved August 1, 2018 .^ Park, Eileen (July 27, 2018). "17K acre Long Hollow Fire started by farming equipment" . KOIN . Retrieved May 24, 2025 . ^ "National Large Incident Year-to-Date Report" (PDF) . National Interagency Fire Center . Retrieved August 3, 2018 .^ "Lake Wallula Fire 65 percent contained" . East Oregonian . Retrieved May 24, 2025 .^ "South Valley Fire" . National Wildfire Coordinating Group . Retrieved August 3, 2018 .^ Woodworth, Whitney; Urness, Zach (August 3, 2018). "South Valley Fire forces 500 people from homes, grows to 20,00 acres" . Statesman Journal . Retrieved May 24, 2025 . ^ "Watson Fire" . InciWeb . Retrieved August 15, 2018 .^ "2nd Lawsuit Filed Against Oregon Ranch Over 2018's Watson Creek Wildfire" . Oregon Public Radio . Associated Press. June 19, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2025 .
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