Governor Brown Calls for More Wildfire Prevention Tactics

The Bootleg Fire’s true cost is just starting to emerge, as people come back to ruined homes and businesses.

With massive efforts from thousands of people, the Bootleg fire’s now at more than 50% contained.

But the mammoth wildfire’s the size of two New York Cities, and it has decimated at least 112 homes and 169 buildings, including the saw mill that Gage Clark owns. “I lost my father in 2015 and all the pictures, all the knives, all the stuff like that, there’s some stuff that I’ll never get back,” Clark said.

He talked about what comes next. “We just got to try to band together as a community and rebuild and get people’s lives back in order. I mean it will never be back to what it was of course, but we got to try to do what we can,” he said.

Oregon Governor Kate Brown, on CNN, said she feels for everyone who’s been a victim of the 640 square mile wildfire. “Obviously I’m very concerned that these very high heat temperatures will continue. I have to say a shoutout to the over 2,000 firefighters who are fighting this horrific fire. We really appreciate their dedication and determination,” said Brown.

She says Oregon needs to be more proactive in preventing wildfires. “It’s incredibly important with climate change that we get into these forests and start doing the thinning and harvest and prescriptive burning, so we can create healthier landscapes, landscapes that are more resilient to wildfire.”

Brown says she feels she’s getting the support the state needs from the White House.