The Oregon Department of Forestry is getting help from the state’s general fund to pay its bills after a record wildfire season. The Legislative Emergency Board voted Wednesday to send $47.5 million to the forestry department to help cover the costs of the 2024 wildfire season. Spending on wildfires so far this year has topped nearly $250 million, about 2.5 times the amount budgeted for the forestry department and the State Fire Marshal’s Office for wildfire response. …About half of the $47.5 million was previously earmarked for a potentially expensive wildfire season, while $20 million was appropriated as emergency funding by the board. There have been more than 2,000 fires this year that have scorched nearly 2 million acres – a record in the state and more than three times the 10-year average for acres burned. Gov. Tina Kotek has invoked the Conflagration Act 17 times this year – a new record.