Firefighters Have Contained a 20-Acre Wildfire on the Oregon Coast

It took 13 response vehicles and 40 personnel to quell the blaze.

Tilamook Head Wildfire (Courtesy of City of Seaside)
By Bennett Campbell Ferguson

On Thursday evening, Clatsop County firefighters confronted a 20-acre wildfire on Tillamook Head—an unusual and alarming conflagration in November, and the latest sign that Oregon’s fire season lasts far longer than once seemed possible.

The coastal blaze burned through the night, but by 7 am Friday, the fire crew had successfully contained it.

Thirteen response vehicles and about 40 personnel were required to stanch the two-alarm fire less than 3 miles south of the Oregon Coast tourist town of Seaside. There are no reports of injuries.

Seaside Fire & Rescue responded to the wildfire at 7:41 pm on Thursday, battling the blaze as unusually high east winds nudged it toward the private timberlands owned by Greenwood Resources located near Square Creek Quarry. The cause of the fire was ultimately linked to “slash” piles (mounds of stumps and wood debris not used for the sawmill).

In a press release, the city of Seaside confirmed that fire conditions remain “dangerous,” courtesy of the dry east winds. With other wildfires active throughout Clatsop County, caution is urged for campers.

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.