The earth is on fire. That’s not some Sierra Club hyperbole, but a factual assessment of where we are as a planet. Your editor has woken (for three days now) coughing and inhaling the smoke and ashes from a small-potatoes, 300-acre forest fire 15 miles away. The rest of Oregon is suffering far more. Throughout America and the world, forests, brush lands, prairies and savannahs are being ravaged at record levels. The National Interagency fire Center illuminates the alarming numbers. “As of this morning (August 14), 75 large active wildfires are being managed with full suppression strategies nationwide. Current wildfires have burned 2,337,468 acres. More than 26,000 wildland firefighters and support personnel are assigned to wildfires, including 21 complex and 5 Type 1 incident management teams, 578 crews, 1,357 engines, 152 helicopters, and six Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems, or MAFFS. Sixty fireline management personnel from Australia and New Zealand are assigned to support large fires in the Northwest Area.” Note …
