PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – August is coming to a close, but Oregon has already seen hundreds of thousands of acres burned and dozens of homes destroyed by wildfires.

As the Flat Fire continues to burn out of control in Central Oregon, state and federal leaders met in Portland on Thursday to discuss this year’s wildfire season and how to pay for it.

In 2024, Oregon saw a record-breaking wildfire season that cost the state $350 million, but following the recent legislative session, the current wildfire budget is less than that. It’s also supposed to last two years.

Officials say it is “very possible” that we could have a few more fires before October.

This week, the Flat Fire exploded to more than 23,000 acres, destroying five homes and threatening thousands of homes that are still under evacuation orders.

As wildland firefighters work to mop up hotspots and stifle the flames, KOIN 6 News spoke with Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici ahead of her meeting with state and federal leaders to discuss funding for those on the front lines.

“Last I checked, the fire over there, near Sisters, was only about 7% contained. We need to have funding, not only to support our firefighters, but also to support better forest management so that we can do more prevention,” she said.

Combined, there have been nearly 1,900 fires in Oregon this year that have devoured roughly 220,000 acres total, according to the Oregon Department of Forestry. That’s as the state saw a record-breaking 1.9 million acres burned last wildfire season.

The briefing at the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center comes as state legislators fell short of their goal to raise $300 million to address wildfires over the next two years.

They instead came up with roughly $270 million between the state’s budget bill and House Bill 3940, which creates a new tax on nicotine pouches to help cut costs for homeowners and pay for wildfire prevention. However, the funding does not allocate dollars to fight fires.

Now most of those funds are considered one time, meaning that in two years, the state will be back at the same table trying to find a long-term funding solution to address these ever-widening fire seasons.