Sen. Ron Wyden engages with Wasco County residents in a virtual town hall June 3. Wyden was hosted in The Dalles and Hood River by Columbia Gorge News.
Sen. Ron Wyden engages with Wasco County residents in a virtual town hall June 3. Wyden was hosted in The Dalles and Hood River by Columbia Gorge News.
“We’re spending a lot of time getting ready for what looks like a very tough fire season,” U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden told Wasco County residents during an online town hall Friday, June 3. “I think this is a year when we are going to see, once again, that these fires are not your grandfather’s fires: They’re bigger, they’re hotter, they’re more powerful.”
Wyden said he had recently attended a briefing with most of the major decision-makers in rural Oregon to look at fire preparedness and the coming fire season.
Wyden noted a lot of work has been done over the winter months in the wildland urban interface, where rural and urban areas meet to reduce hazardous fuel levels. “We’re taking steps to deal with hazardous fuels that have built up,” he said. He said Oregon has been able to lead the fight and get additional federal money to clean out overstocked stands (of timber).
“A lot of our firefighters are working very hard to ensure there are additional protections for the fire season,” Wyden added. “We’re looking at a dangerous fire season.”
Wyden said one of his priorities in the senate was to increase firefighter pay and benefits. “We’re getting an increase in pay, which is long overdue, and then helping with health, transportation and education,” he said.
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