Oregon Public Broadcasting

A new report by a coalition of state and federal officials in western states makes an attempt to quantify the long-term costs of wildfires rather than just looking at the initial cost of suppression and damage.  Pete Springer reports.

The Western Forestry Leadership studied six large fires in the west.

They took a look at not only the costs of containing and putting out the fires, but also at the cost of flooding, erosion, and diminished water and air quality associated with the fires.

Their conclusion was that the actual cost of wildfires could range anywhere from two to thirty times of the cost of containing and putting them out.

The study did not look at fires in Oregon or Washington.

But Oregon Department of Forestry spokesman Rod Nichols says the state has studied wildfire air pollution, including a 2007 fire near Fossil.

Rod Nicols “If ended up putting out about 58 million pounds of carbon dioxide.  We calculated that out, that’s about like a years worth of emissions from 4800 cars.” 

The report calls for spending more on fuels treatment like thinning and clearing brush to prevent fires.

But critics say fuels treatment doesn’t necessarily reduce damage and suppression costs, and may actually be more expensive in the end.