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Oregon Counties Among Those Sending Help To Fight California Fires

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
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Flickr.com

The “Camp Fire” in northern California has just destroyed the town of Paradise.  The state is experiencing six major wildfires, currently.

Help is coming in from across the Pacific Northwest.  Oregon’s Lincoln and Polk Counties have just deployed five fire engines and 21 personnel.

Credit Jim Kusz / Nothern Lincoln Fire & Rescue
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Nothern Lincoln Fire & Rescue
A Type 1 Fire Engine from North Lincoln Fire & Rescue as it was loaded up this morning to be part of the strike force sent to California.

Jim Kusz, District Captain of North Lincoln Fire and Rescue, says they will be in California for 14 days, perhaps longer. He adds these units have been deployed five times this year, more than usual.

“These are new times for us, and fires are quicker," Kusz tells KLCC.  "...it has a combination to do with a lot of things, with climate change and also that more and more people are living in areas that are closer to basically wildland and more grasslands or forestlands.”

At last check, the Camp Fire is at 70,000 acres and is 5 percent contained.

Copyright 2018, KLCC.

Brian Bull is an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Oregon, and remains a contributor to the KLCC news department. He began working with KLCC in June 2016.   In his 27+ years as a public media journalist, he's worked at NPR, Twin Cities Public Television, South Dakota Public Broadcasting, Wisconsin Public Radio, and ideastream in Cleveland. His reporting has netted dozens of accolades, including four national Edward R. Murrow Awards (22 regional),  the Ohio Associated Press' Best Reporter Award, Best Radio Reporter from  the Native American Journalists Association, and the PRNDI/NEFE Award for Excellence in Consumer Finance Reporting.
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