aerial view of Western's campus at night, with golden lights surrounded by dark trees

One Quick Question with Environmental Studies' Michael Medler

With our increasingly dry summers, what can we in the Pacific Northwest learn from the LA wildfires?

"One Quick Question" is a semi-regular Western Today feature that reaches out to a member of the Western community for their expertise on a topic of immediate public interest. Today’s question was answered by Michael Medler, professor of Environmental Studies at Western, a pyrogeography researcher and former wildlands firefighter. 

With our increasingly dry summers, what can we in the Pacific Northwest learn from the LA wildfires? 

“The west side of the Washington Cascades is a far wetter place in winter than Los Angeles. Nevertheless, our homes and communities could be nearly as susceptible to wind-driven fire in the right conditions, and each year of climate change is making those conditions more likely, especially during dry summers. A few years ago the west side of the Oregon Cascades experienced massive fires. It would be wise to consider and plan for the real possibility of fires like those in Los Angeles in our communities, even this far north.” - Michael Medler 

More information about Medler's research and megafires in the Pacific Northwest can be found in a previous interview with Medler for Window, Western’s university magazine.