Oregonians are being asked to create more defensible space around their homes, with vegetation modified in that space to reduce wildfire threat and help firefighters defend the house.
Climate change is expected to increase both the frequency and intensity of wildfires, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
So now, in addition to more dry eastern Oregon wildfires, we’re likely to experience more wildfires in the wetter western part of the state. “Wildfire is not an ‘if,’ but a ‘when,’ living in Oregon,” said Alison Green, a spokeswoman for the Oregon State Fire Marshal.
Just as troubling for urban Oregonians is the increase in wildfires reaching cities. About 3,000 homes burned in Oregon communities such as Phoenix, Talent, Detroit and Blue River in 2020. Further afield, towns like Lahaina, Hawaii, and Boulder, Colorado, have also been devastated.