MSU forestry grad and West Michigan native readies for Oregon wildfires

by:Justin Kollar

WALKER, Mich. (WOOD) — As forest fires in the west have burned, some uncontrolled for weeks, the El Dorado Fire in California, is only one of dozens of fires actively burning up and down the West Coast.

And here in West Michigan, we see the smoke present most in our sunrises and sunsets, a hazy sky giving the sun glowing orange and red hue

West Michigan native and recent MSU grad Ashley Wildeman is a professional forester by trade who now lives in Oregon, only miles away from the Archie Fire. 

She explains the entire county she lives in is currently in a “level one” or “get ready” phase. If things worsen, she’ll be forced to leave her home. 

Wildeman noted, “I packed my car and I was ready to go just so that if we went up to level two and it was moving that quickly, that we could get out as soon as a level three hit,”“Growing up in Michigan, I didn’t worry about fire. I had, you know, learned about prescribed burning in college, but I had never witnessed one,"

Read more: WOODTV.COM


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