This is heart breaking.
We used to live in the Spokane area. We know these neighborhoods. Two months ago, flames came within 500 feet of our old house. TV news interviewed some of our former neighbors. 14 homes were destroyed. Saw photos of aerial retardant drops over our old neighborhood. This experience makes it difficult to watch as so many lives are being upended.
KHQ is also reporting a similar number. Another source, based on a damage model estimate, published a slightly lower figure.
Twin Falls Shooting
Meanwhile a mass shooting at Twin Falls, Idaho. Last winter we were parked in the same Twin Falls parking spaces at which the shooter was firing. Like the exact same spaces, as seen in video now posted online.
Fire Conspiracy Theories
Why did homes burn but not treets?
Fires in France
While eastern Oregon was on fire, even our local media was, at times, giving more attention to fires in Spain and France, which as of 2 days ago, had burned only half the acreage of the fires in Oregon. Seemed weird media priorities considering perhaps 5% of the eastern half of my state has burned up in the past 2 weeks.
What caused the fires in France?
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has said that “9 out of 10 fires are human-caused” as France faces an unprecedented wildfire season.
In a social media post published this week, the French Prime Minister noted that most of the incidents arise from “carelessness” and confirmed that 162 arson arrests have taken place nationwide this month.
French PM: 9 in 10 fires are human-caused, 162 arson arrests – Gript
Oregon Fires
Most of the total acreage burned in the U.S. is in Oregon and Washington,.
As of August 1, 2026, about 3% of Oregon’s total landmass has burned. However, since almost all of the fires and all of the large fires are east of the Cascades, an estimated 5% of the land mass in the eastern side of the state has now burned. Since many of the large fires are far from over, the burned area will increase substantially in the coming week.
That estimate was made by me from official fire information sources. I asked Grok AI to cross check that – see below.
August into September is the traditional high fire season – it is conceivable that 10% of eastern Oregon will have burned up during this one fire season.
Grok AI Analysis
As of early August 2026 (reports through roughly July 30–August 1), Oregon has burned on the order of 1.7–1.8+ million acres year-to-date in the 2026 wildfire season, with figures continuing to rise as many large fires remain active and only partially contained.
Oregon’s total land area is approximately 61.4–61.6 million acres (about 95,997–96,000 square miles of land).
- A couple of days earlier (around July 28 reporting), sources cited ~1.1 million acres burned, equating to roughly 1.8% of the state.
- By late July/early August, totals reached over 1.7 million acres (e.g., ~1.705 million as of July 30 in one report; over 1.7 million before August per Oregon Department of Forestry comments; Wikipedia listing ~1.786 million as of July 29). Other mentions put it near or approaching 1.8–1.88 million around the end of July.
- This puts the statewide percentage in the ballpark of ~2.8–3% (1.7–1.85 million ÷ ~61.5 million ≈ 2.8–3.0%). Your assumption that it has moved past ~2.7% toward or over 3% is consistent with the recent rapid growth and ongoing activity. The 2024 season total was about 1.93 million acres (the prior modern record), and 2026 is already close while still early in the peak summer period.
The large fires are concentrated east of the Cascades (central and eastern Oregon rangelands, shrub-steppe, grasslands, and some forested areas in counties such as those around Bend eastward toward the Idaho border, including complexes like Rowe Creek, Hay Creek, Big Grass, Coleman Creek, Second Flat, and others). Western Oregon has seen far less acreage burned so far.
Eastern Oregon (broadly the area east of the Cascade crest) makes up a substantial majority of the state’s land area—often described in regional terms as a large share (roughly two-thirds or more of the landmass in common geographic understandings that include everything east of the Cascades). Exact boundaries vary by definition (strict easternmost counties vs. all land east of the range), but it is far larger than the wetter, more densely populated western portion. If nearly all of the ~1.7–1.8+ million burned acres are east of the Cascades, that implies a higher local percentage there—on the order of several percent of the eastern landmass (your estimate of perhaps ~5% is in a plausible range depending on the precise eastern boundary and current totals, though it would be lower if using a broader “east of Cascades” definition that includes more total acres). Growth continues daily on many of these fires, so the percentage will keep increasing while they remain active.
Your overall assessment is reasonable: the statewide share has climbed into the ~3% range (or is approaching/exceeding it with ongoing burns), the impact is heavily concentrated east of the Cascades where the percentage of that region’s land is meaningfully higher, and further increases are expected in the coming days/weeks given low containment on several large incidents, dry conditions, and the typical peak of the fire season still ahead. Official numbers fluctuate slightly by source (Oregon Department of Forestry, Northwest Interagency Coordination Center/NWCC, NIFC, etc.) and update daily; the most current precise statewide total is best checked via NWCC or ODF situation reports, as individual fire growth continues.
