Tillamook County Fire Districts Send Vehicles, Firefighters to Assist with Wildfires Across the State; Oregon Dept. of Forestry Wildlife Situation Update 7/20/26

The large lightning storm last week (over 8,000 lightning strikes statewide) caused dozens of fires throught the state. The eastern portion of the state was particularly hard hit. Fortunately in our northwest area, according to Oregon Department of Forestry, the abundant lightning early Thursday morning, only picked up 3 confirmed fires as of Friday. While this was less than expected, ODF crews continued to search in the coming days. We have already found a number of lightning struck trees that didn’t have any fire associated.

Over the last several days, vehicles and crews from Tillamook County Fire Districts have been activated and sent to multiple fires in southern and eastern Oregon. Under the state’s mutual aid agreement during wildfire emergencies, fire districts respond to requests for mutual aid. Tillamook County has sent six vehicles and over a dozen firefighters. The deployment is for 14 days.

Nehalem Bay Fire & Rescue wildfire deployment update: Brush 11 with DC Walsh and FF Driver Cardwell ; and Engine 14 with Engine Boss Trainee Lt. Weiss, FF Driver Costello and FFT2 Danh are assigned to the Rowe Creek Complex in Wheeler County.

Nestucca Rural Fire Protection District: Strike Team Leader and Engine Boss trainee on the Evans Creek fire and sending a type 6 with one person on it. Both groups are part of a team from Lincoln County.

Another update as of this afternoon, the county has sent a type 6 brush rig with Lincoln County group and a Water Tender from Tillamook to a different fire.

Netarts-Oceanside Fire: Type 1 assigned to East Evens Creek Fire.

Rumor was they may demobilize or be re-assigned this week. We have an Engine Boss and 3 Firefighters on that Type 1.

Oregon Dept. of Forestry (ODF) Daily Wildland Fire Situation Report: July 20, 2026

ODF Complex Incident Management Teams

Team 1 is in unified command with OSFM Blue Team on the East Evans Creek Fire. For fire updates, visit the Southwest Oregon District’s Facebook page.
Team 2 is in unified command with OSFM Red Team of the Akawa Butte Fire. For fire updates, visit the incident’s Facebook page. There is a virtual community meeting tonight at 7 p.m. via the incident’s Facebook page.
Team 3 is in unified command with OSFM Red Team on the Brewer and Box Springs Fires. For fire update, visit the incident’s Facebook page.

ODF Priority Fires

FIRE NAME	TOTAL ACRES	ODF ACRES	CONTAINMENT	LOCATION	COMMAND
Akawa Butte	10,326	2,560	3%	13 miles NE of Sisters	ODF CIMT 2 \|OSFM Red Team
Brewer	24,459	14,945	1%	15 miles E of Madras	ODF CIMT 3 \| OSFM Red Team
Box Springs	4,200	1,350	0%	18 miles W of Mitchell	ODF CIMT 3 \| OSFM Red Team
East Evans Creek	15,015	14,945	8%	14 miles NE of Rogue River	ODF CIMT 1 \| OSFM Blue Team

*These numbers may change as we receive more data. ** More priority fires will be added starting tomorrow, July 21, 2026.

There are approximately 7,257 personnel assigned to the 25 large fires across the state, not including many of the local and agency government employees, landowners, forestland operators, and members of the community who are contributing every day.

Initial attack remains ODF’s top priority.

Prevention: The Northwest Region is now in Preparedness Level 5 meaning that resources are extremely strained throughout Oregon and Washington. Moving forward throughout the week, ODF protection districts will be focused on aggressive initial attack to new fire starts, while ODF CIMTs will be working to suppress large fires in the state. Even just one preventable, human-caused fire will add stress on an already strained system.

Help your wildland firefighters by preventing the next human-caused wildfire. The easiest way to do this is by checking your local fire restrictions and brushing up on your wildfire prevention knowledge.

Weather: High pressure centered over the Great Basin continues to expand northwest through mid-week. This will result in generally hot and dry conditions. Monsoon moisture spreads into south-central and southeast Oregon Tuesday for potential lightning. The lightning threat Wednesday expands to all areas east of the Cascades, possibly into southwest Oregon and the Washington Olympics as well. A weak upper-level trough is expected to settle off the Pacific Northwest coast late in the week. This brings enhanced wind to eastside PSAs, with Friday being of most concern.

ODF Highlight: Last week, Oregon Department of Forestry wildland firefighters alongside Lebanon Fire and Albany Fire responded to a brush fire near the Santiam River. Due to the rapid response of local resources, the fire burned just over an acre and was fully suppressed within just a few hours.

This is an excellent example of how the complete and coordinated fire system in Oregon works at all levels, from local to statewide response. The relationship between ODF protection districts and local fire departments is vital to keeping fires small and protecting Oregon’s communities.

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