AND
AND THE
AND THE HASHTAG. HEY DAN IT'S GOOD TO BE BACK.
I MISSED YOU GUYS.
>> LET'S GET TO THE BIG STORY
NOW.
NOW.
NOW. >>
NOW. >> ALL THIS WEEK WE'RE FOCUSING
ON WILDFIRES AND FRANKLY THE
TRAUMA THAT THEY CAUSED.
PEOPLE ARE REALLY NERVOUS OUT
THERE.
THERE.
THERE. HOW COULD HOW COULD THEY NOT BE
I MEAN THINK ABOUT THE NEWS.
FOR INSTANCE, YOU CLICK ON THE
NEWS AND WE'RE TALKING ABOUT
FIRE SEASON POPPING UP EARLY
THIS YEAR.
THIS YEAR. WE'RE TALKING ABOUT DROUGHT
RAVAGING THE STATE AND HOW DRY
EVERYTHING IS.
EVERYTHING IS. RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES IN THE
SPRING AND HOW THAT COULD BE
DANGEROUS FOR FIRES.
YOU SEE BREAKING NEWS SOMETIMES
A LITTLE POP UP ON THE NEWS.
>> A BRUSHFIRE GROWING
SOMEWHERE THIS TRIGGERS PEOPLE
WE ALWAYS FOLLOW UP THAT
REPORTING WITH A CONVERSATION
AROUND CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE
SCIENTIFIC CONSENSUS THAT BIG
FIRES WILL BECOME MORE AND MORE
FREQUENT.
FREQUENT.
FREQUENT. SO FOR PEOPLE WHO SAW THEIR
TOWNS LEVELED, YOU CAN
UNDERSTAND HOW THEY MIGHT FEEL
A LITTLE BIT ANXIOUS ABOUT THIS
YEAR AND WHAT IT MIGHT BRING.
WELL, WE'RE GETTING SOME
ANSWERS ABOUT THAT OR RATHER
SOME EDUCATED FORECASTS.
HERE'S METEOROLOGIST JOE
RAINERI WITH AN EXPLANATION
OF WHY LAST YEAR'S FIRES WERE
SO UNUSUAL.
SO UNUSUAL. >> ALMOST A YEAR HAS PASSED
EVEN THOUGH WE LOST EVERYTHING,
WE'RE STILL MORE FORTUNATE THAN
MOST AND IT'S STILL HARD TO
BELIEVE JUST HOW MUCH OF OUR
STATE WAS FOREVER CHANGED WHEN
WILDFIRES BROKE OUT OVER LABOR
DAY WEEKEND.
DAY WEEKEND. TWENTY TWENTY FIRES THAT BURNED
MORE THAN A MILLION
LAST
LAST SUMMER THAT'S FAR ABOVE THE
AVERAGE ACREAGE BURNED DURING
PRIOR WILDFIRE SEASONS
ACCORDING TO THE NORTHWEAST
INTERATION COORDINATION CENTER,
THE STATE OF OREGON SAW ON
AVERAGE MORE THAN FIVE HUNDRED
FIFTY THOUSAND ACRES BURNED A
YEAR BETWEEN 2010 AND TWENTY
NINETEEN.
NINETEEN.
NINETEEN. AND TAKE A LOOK AT THIS MAP
FROM THE OREGON DEPARTMENT
OF FORESTRY.
OF FORESTRY. THE STATE SAW AN INCREASE IN
WILDFIRES BURNING IN THEIR
EARLY NINETEEN THIRTIES BUT
LAST YEAR'S NUMBERS WERE OFF
THE CHARTS COMPARED TO YEARS
PAST, ESPECIALLY IN TERMS
OF ACREAGE BURNED AND PROPERTY
LOST.
LOST.
LOST. AS
LOST. AS WE HEAD INTO THE TWENTY
TWENTY ONE WILDFIRE SEASON,
COULD WE SEE A REPEAT OF LAST
YEAR?
YEAR?
YEAR? >>
YEAR? >> YOUR LAST YEAR WAS AN GONELL
I MADE LAST YEAR FOR OREGON WAS
THE BIG YEAR SO IF YOU LOOK AT
THE OREGON WILDFIRES, IT'S WAY
UP THERE.
UP THERE.
UP THERE. >> CLACKMAS IS A PROFESSOR
OF ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON.
HE SAYS THERE ARE A LOT
OF FACTORS IN PLAY LAST YEAR
THAT MADE IT SUCH AN HISTORIC
EVENT.
EVENT.
EVENT. THE BIG ONE, THE WINDS MAPPS
SAYS IF WE DIDN'T GET THOSE
HIGH WINDS THAT FANNED THE
FLAMES, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A
VERY MILD SEASON.
>> AS FOR THIS SUMMER, I THINK
THE BIG UNKNOWN IS WHETHER
WE'LL GET STRONG WINDS.
WILL IT WILL THERE BE STRONG
EASTERLY WINDS AGAIN?
>> I SUSPECT NOT.
I THINK LAST YEAR WAS VERY,
VERY UNUSUAL.
VERY UNUSUAL. >> THOSE EAST WINDS PLAY A
MAJOR FACTOR WHEN FIRES START
TO SPREAD IN OUR AREA THE WEST
SIDE IT'S ALL DEPENDENT ON
EASTERLY WINDS.
EASTERLY WINDS. SO ON THE WEST SIDE WHETHER WE
GET A BIG FIRE LIKE LAST YEAR
AND IF WE GET EXTREMELY UNUSUAL
EASTERLY WINDS AND I SHOULD
MENTION INITIALLY WINDS WERE
ASSOCIATED WITH THE INCUE CREEK
FIRE IN THE GORGE AS WELL THAT
FIRE IN THE GORGE HE'S TALKING
ABOUT IS THE EAGLE CREEK FIRE
THAT STARTED IN TWENTY
SEVENTEEN AND BURNED FIFTY
THOUSAND ACRES.
THOUSAND ACRES. WHILE THE NORTHWEAST IS NO
STRANGER TO FIRES BREAKING OUT
THIS TIME OF YEAR, MAPPS SAYS
OUR FORESTS HAVE CHANGED OVER
THE YEARS.
THE YEARS. >> THEY'RE MUCH MORE PRONE TO
BURN THAN THEY WERE ONE HUNDRED
YEARS THOUGH.
YEARS THOUGH. SO WE HAVE THIS VERY DANGEROUS
SITUATION OF A LOT OF EXTRA
FUELS PLUS THERE'S A LOT
OF PEOPLE OUT THERE THAT ARE
STARTING FIRES, HE SAYS
MEASURES NEED TO BE TAKEN TO
PROTECT OUR FORESTS.
WE SUPPRESS FIRE AND THAT HAS
CAUSED US TO HAVE THIS VERY
UNHEALTHY FIRES THAT BURN
CATASTROPHICALLY.
CATASTROPHICALLY. AND SO WHAT WE NEED TO DO AS A
SOCIETY IS THIN.
THE FOREST AND BRING BACK
PRESCRIBED BURNS AGAIN.
>> THAT'S CRUCIAL A CRUCIAL
FACTOR ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU LOOK
AT HOW HOT OUR SUMMERS HAVE
BEEN GETTING OVER THE LAST
SEVERAL YEARS AND THEN
OF COURSE THIS CLIMATE ISSUE
THAT'S THERE AND THAT'S GOING
TO GET MORE AND MORE ACUTE BY
THE END OF THE CENTURY.
I MEAN WE'VE ONLY SEEN A LITTLE
BIT OF THE CLIMATE CHANGE STUFF
SO FAR THAT'S GOING TO AMPLIFY
AS WE GET LATER INTO THE
CENTURY.
CENTURY.
CENTURY. >> GIOVANNI KGW NEWS NOW AS
PART OF OUR WEEK WILDFIRE
COVERAGE WE ARE PARTNERING WITH
THE SANTAIAM HOSPITAL FOR THIS
WEEK'S HELP CAMPAIGN AND THEY
RUN A GROUP CALLED SANTAIAM
SERVICE INTEGRATION AND THEY DO
GREAT WORK HELPING WILDFIRE
VICTIMS IN THAT SANTIAM CANYON
AREA WHICH IF YOU REMEMBER GOT
JUST DEVASTATED ONE OF THE
HARDEST HIT AREAS IN THE ENTIRE
STATE LAST YEAR.
IF YOU WANT TO HELP THOSE FOLKS
OUT AND TRUST ME, THEY STILL
NEED A LOT OF HELP.
POINT THE CAMERA ON YOUR PHONE
AT THE QR CODE ON THE SCREEN
RIGHT NOW AND IT'LL TAKE YOU TO
A LINK TO DONATE.
YOU CAN ALSO GO TO KGW DOT HEY
HELP NOW WE ARE CALLING THIS A
MICRO DONATION HDRIVE.
SO FEEL FREE TO GIVE ANY AMOUNT
OF MONEY NO MATTER HOW SMALL
THE MONEY THAT YOU DONATE WILL
HELP.
HELP.
HELP. IT
HELP. IT GOES TOWARD HELPING WILDFIRE
VICTIMS WITH THINGS LIKE
HOUSING AND HEALTH CARE
AND FOOD ASSISTANCE AND OTHER