ReOregon was established by
Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) and is a program under OHCS’
Disaster Recovery and Resilience (DRR) Division. ReOregon was created in response to the 2020 Labor Day Disasters, which was a series of wildfires lasting several months that caused widespread devastation across multiple counties in Oregon. The program is dedicated to restoring communities, enhancing resilience, and improving economic stability.
Through ReOregon, OHCS is using federal funds from a
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) to support long-term recovery and rebuilding efforts among individuals, households, and communities in heavily affected areas.
Specifically, ReOregon helps homeowners, renters, and communities recover from the disasters by providing financial assistance to rebuild housing, repair infrastructure, and revitalize local economies. Focusing on those directly affected, ReOregon seeks to ensure that survivors have access to safe, secure, resilient, and permanent housing.
Wildfire history
Starting on Sept. 7, 2020, multiple fires spread rapidly due to high winds and dry conditions, burning over 1 million acres across several regions of the state — double the 10-year average. Over 40,000 Oregonians had to evacuate their homes.
Existing fires like Lionshead and Beachie Creek intensified, and three new megafires (Archie Creek, Holiday Farm, and Riverside) emerged. The Almeda Fire, which started as a grass fire, destroyed nearly 2,500 homes in Ashland, Talent, Phoenix, and urban Jackson County. Most fires were in rural areas, severely affecting communities and ecosystems.
Click to expand the wildfire impacts by county.
The Riverside Fire began in the upper Clackamas River watershed and rapidly spread toward Estacada, threatening Colton, Molalla, and other communities. A controlled power outage affected 5,000 customers for five days. Evacuation orders covered the entire county, and the fire resulted in the loss of 62 homes and 215 outbuildings.
The Archie Creek Fire resulted in evacuation orders for about 100,000 residents, including the entire city of Glide. The fire burned over 131,000 acres, destroyed more than 100 homes, and led to the closure of 66 miles of Highway 138 by the Oregon Department of Transportation.
The Almeda Fire devastated the towns of Phoenix and Talent, destroying nearly 2,500 homes and burning much of their Main Street business districts. Numerous public facilities, including Jackson County Station 3, were destroyed or damaged. The South Obenchain Fire in north central Jackson County also destroyed dozens of homes.
The Two Four Two Fire in Klamath County threatened the town of Chiloquin, burning over 14,000 acres and destroying 48 structures and 11 homes. This fire affected both rural and forested areas, causing widespread smoke damage that led to poor air quality and prompting hundreds of residents to evacuate.
The Holiday Farm Fire burned or threatened the communities of Blue River, Vida, Nimrod, and Leaburg along a 20-mile stretch of the McKenzie River, destroying over 500 homes and many small businesses. Additionally, over 500 miles of electrical lines were damaged, with nearly 40 miles requiring complete replacement, including conductors, cross-arms, poles, and transformers.
The Echo Mountain Fire and the nearby Kimberlin Fire were managed as a single incident: the Echo Mountain Complex. The fires burned over 2,500 acres, destroyed 293 structures, and led to widespread evacuations and significant smoke damage. Additionally, the county faced challenges with post-fire erosion control and the restoration of damaged infrastructure, such as electrical lines and communication systems.
The Beachie Creek Fire was started by lightning on Aug. 16 in Willamette National Forest. Starting on Labor Day, wind gusts of up to 75 mph caused the fire to spread through Santiam Canyon, causing significant damage to the communities of Jawbone Flats, Elkhorn, Gates, Mill City, and Lyons-Mehama, including to homes, public infrastructure, and water systems. The entire city center of Detroit was largely destroyed, as well as over 600 homes in Marion County and another 71 homes in Linn County.