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Eric Wise is a meteorologist for the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center based in Portland. He said there are thunderstorms expected between today and the Fourth of July in Oregon and Washington. With a spike already projected in human-caused fires tied to pyrotechnics, this forecast troubles firefighters.
“So we are concerned that with the lightning already starting things, the addition of ramped-up human starts will definitely be of concern, Wise told KLCC. So we urge folks to be very careful, and especially the fireworks, which I think we’ll have a hard time talking people out of their fireworks, but certainly the conditions are ripe to get a fire started.”
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KLCC s Brian Bull reports on a meteorologist s assessment of regional conditions, which puts Oregon and Washington at high-risk for wildfires.
Eric Wise is a predictive meteorologist for the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center, which oversees fire management and suppression across Oregon and Washington. He said his biggest concern is the widespread drought conditions that opened up this wildfire season.
“Drought as bad as we’ve seen it, most recent similar year was 2015, Wise told KLCC. And this year has shaped up to be worse than that year in terms of the dryness. And then with the excessive heat that’s come in recently, that’s definitely got us primed for those fuels to be receptive to ignition.”
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