Costly war: Milli Fire cost at $8.2 million and climbing

(Update: Comments from fire center spokesman about fire costs)

Gov. Kate Brown was in Brookings on Friday, getting a briefing on the 102,333-acre Chetco Bar Fire burning in the Rogue-Siskiyou National Forest.

The wildfire is burning with no containment so far, and officials have spent $9 million on resources to fight the Chetco Bar fire.

“Chetco Bar fire has been going for awhile. In the beginning, it didn’t apply a lot of manpower,” Brian Ballou, public information officer for the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center in Portland, said Friday. “It’s in a wilderness area, it’s pretty nasty country, pretty unsafe ground for people to be working in, so most of the cost there was used on aircraft to focus on the hot spots around the fire’s edge.”

More than a dozen large wildfires are burning across Oregon — and along with acreage burned and the number of firefighters on the lines, there’s also a price tag with each one.

The Milli Fire has grown to more than 13,000 acres, with 32 percent containment — and already, the cost of fighting that blaze has reached $8.2 million.

Ballou told NewsChannel 21 there are no firm budgets, when it comes to fighting a wildfire. Their main goal is to protect life and property from a wildfire.

Ballou said that like in most efforts, personnel represent the biggest share of the tab, but also making sure firefighters have all the gear and equipment they need.

The costs also include feeding, providing water and meeting the medical needs for fire crews.

As of now, the High Cascades Complex Fire, burning in the Willamette National Forest has cost $35.4 million. It’s the costliest fire burning in our state.

According to InciWeb, the High Cascades Complex consists of 17 fires within Crater Lake National Park and the High Cascades Ranger District.

Officials said 13 of the fires have been contained, and firefighters are working on a full suppression plan for the last four fires.

You can also see all the numbers for the nation’s wildfires in the National Interagency Fire Center’s daily situation report, linked on the right side of the page at https://www.nifc.gov/fireInfo/fireInfo_main.html