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The exploding costs of fighting US wildfires

Two Rogue River Hot Shots take a break in O'Brien, Oregon, while trying to stop a 188,000 acre fire in the Siskiyou National Forest August 2002. | Justin Sullivan/Getty Images This story was originally published by High Country News and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Oregonians buying nicotine pouches like Zyn and Rogue were met with a surprise at the cash register starting this year. Each tin had a new 65-cent tax on it, meant to bolster funding for the state’s wildfire reduction efforts. Wildfires burned more than 1.9 million acres in Oregon in 2024....