Wildfire Season That Wasn't

The Oregonian characterized the 2019 wildfire season as the “season that wasn’t!” That’s good news for west coast states; however, it doesn’t mean we are permanently “out of the woods!”

Worldwide wildfires are down as well. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, there were 6,000 fewer wildfires this year compared with 2018 and about 4.4 million acres were burned compared with roughly 10 million acres in 2017.

The previous two years featured bad fire seasons in Washington, Oregon and California. In 2017, more than 1.1 million acres were scorched in Oregon and Washington and compared...