When compared to the damage from the historic 2020 wildfire season, Oregon's 2021 season was calmer.
The numbers support that, but the data is only a part of the story.
At this time last year, more than a million acres had burned in Oregon. So far in 2021, wildfires have burned 825,608 acres (more than 400,000 of those acres are tied to one fire, the Bootleg Fire, which burned in southern Oregon). Although fewer acres have burned, the 2021 fire season has still come with several challenges.
Alex Robertson, the director of fire and aviation for the U.S. Forest Service, Region 10, says the 2021 wildfire season has been "really drastically different" from the 2020 season. One key difference between the two years, according to Robertson, is length. He says the 2020 fire season really intensified after the Labor Day fires and that chaos lasted just a few weeks.