Dan Richardson, Underwood Conservation District’s Firewise coordinator, likens wildfires to physical ailments.
Specifically, Richardson describes how fire was once viewed as acute, such as a broken bone, versus chronic, like a stress fracture. Fires occasionally razed a home in the woods, but now these events can potentially wipe out a small town every fire season.
“Wildfire is something that individual residents need to take action to adapt to, as opposed to just waiting for a fire district or helicopter with a bucket full of water to come and rescue them,” the lifelong Gorge resident said.
Source: Fighting fire with Firewise: Columbia River Gorge towns push for more wildfire safety practices