Camas, Wash., is taking formal steps to prepare for a wildfire future that many scientists say is increasingly inevitable for the Pacific Northwest, hiring an outside consultant to assess the city's fire vulnerability and chart a path toward greater community resilience.
The effort reflects a broader shift happening across western Washington communities that have historically thought of catastrophic wildfire as someone else's problem. Rising summer temperatures, longer droughts and drier vegetation are steadily pushing that risk westward, and smaller cities like Camas, situated along the Columbia River in Clark County, are now reckoning with what that means for their parks, open spaces and neighborhoods.
The assessment will examine where fire risk is highest within the city, identify which communities and infrastructure are most exposed, and produce a concrete plan for reducing that vulnerability over time. Parks and Recreation is leading the effort, which makes sense given that the city's natural areas and forested parks are often where wildfire danger is most concentrated and where defensible space strategies can have the biggest impact.
Source: NationGraph.
Camas has posted the request for qualifications on its website as it searches for a qualified firm to carry out the work. The scope is focused but significant: map the risks, engage the community, and deliver a plan that city leaders can actually act on.
The Pacific Northwest has seen several wake-up call fire seasons in recent years. The 2020 Labor Day fires burned nearly a million acres across Oregon and Washington in a matter of days, and subsequent summers have reinforced that the region is entering a new climate era. Communities that once relied on cool, wet summers as a natural firebreak are being forced to plan differently.
How quickly Camas moves from assessment to action will depend on what the consultant's findings reveal and how the city prioritizes the recommendations that follow.
