As summers become hotter and smokier, it’s more important than ever that we look out for each other. In September 2020, the skies over Oregon and California turned orange. Wildfire smoke blotted out the sun, and it became hazardous to even step outside. The following...
When the summer gets hot and smoky, kids get hit particularly hard. Their smaller bodies are more vulnerable to dehydration and heat exhaustion, and they tend to breathe in more of the dangerous particulate matter found in wildfire smoke than adults do. But keeping...
When disaster strikes, you don’t want to make decisions in the heat of the moment — instead, think ahead. Wildfires move fast. A level 1 evacuation warning (“be ready”) can escalate to level 3 (“go now!”) in a matter of minutes — not nearly enough time to pack...
By Kelly Burns - City of Ashland's Emergency Management Coordinator, Ashland Emergency Preparedness Emergency Preparedness in a Wildfire-Prone Urban Setting The day of the Almeda Fire on September 8, 2020, Kelly Burns was the Battalion Chief of C-shift for Ashland...
By Chris Chambers - Wildfire and Community Risk Reduction Division, Ashland Fire Department It’s time for our community to face a difficult, but essential fact: We are no longer living in the climate that we planned for. Present-day Ashland was cobbled together over...
After the Palisades and Eaton fires in L.A., photos circulated of homes standing amid wreckage. Such a sight isn’t uncommon after wildfires — similar images emerged after the Hawaii wildfires in Lahaina, the Carr fire in Redding, and even the Almeda fire here in the...