EUGENE, Ore. — With the weather about to heat up and summer not too far off, experts are already talking about this year’s wildfire season, with professors and researchers with the University of Oregon holding a forum to talk about wildfires and smoke.
Geography professor Dan Gavin studies climate and ecosystem changes and said that the heavy snow that hit the Cascades this winter will help this wildfire season.
“Generally, when you look around the western United States, it’s generally good news right now: we have above average-snowpack or average snowpack across the Sierras and central Colorado, too,” said Gavin.
However, Washington state could be a different story: parts of the state are dryer than normal right now, which could raise the risk of fire dangers.
“Washington looks like on the dry side, but it doesn’t take long; it doesn’t take many weeks of dry weather to create fire hazards,” added Gavin.
A relatively new tool in firefighting prevention the last several years is a growing number of cameras. Doug Toomey, a professor at the University of Oregon, said evolving technology is allowing them to detect fire sooner than ever before.
“One thing we’re rolling out this summer is AI, enable early detection to fires — this works day and night — we have the largest camera system in the west,” said Toomey.
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Toomey added that there’s going to be 1,200 cameras that stretch over a dozen states, including California, Oregon, Nevada and Colorado — a system that aims to slow the growth of dangerous and sometimes deadly wildfires like those seen in our area over the last few years.