As the hillsides burned around them and embers fell from the sky, Cliff and Connie Richardson huddled together in their car parked on a community running track in western Oregon and prayed to make it through the night.

“There was so much smoke that it was hard to see or breathe," Cliff Richardson recalls. “Connie and I thought, if this is the end, at least we're together."

Emergency response crews that were trapped with them kept residents safe as best they could by spraying down their vehicles with a hose from a fire truck that circled them throughout the night. As dawn rose, the flames on the ridges around them had been beaten back, and the Richardsons and their neighbors had survived.

“When it was over, it looked like someone had dropped a nuclear bomb in our neighborhood," says Richardson, whose home somehow remained standing. “We could not believe our eyes when we saw that our house was still there. It was extremely humbling."

This year, large wildfires have ravaged parts of New York, New Jersey, Alabama and the Carolinas. A decade or more of hotter and drier weather conditions in other parts of the country have extended wildfire season and raised the risk of devastation. Utilities in areas accustomed to seeing wildfire conditions once in a generation are now preparing for them annually.

“The threat is growing, and it's not just a Western issue," Megan Olmstead, NRECA regulatory affairs director, told co-op leaders at a PowerXchange session in March. “This is a national issue. Wildfire is an existential threat to many co-ops."

NRECA and co-op leaders are pushing Congress and federal agencies to make it easier for electric co-ops to get the permits they need to strengthen their systems against wildfire.

“Electric cooperatives across the nation are working tirelessly to harden their systems and safeguard their communities against the growing threat of wildfire," Olmstead says. “However, it frequently takes months or even years for federal land management agencies to grant co-ops permission to access their rights of way for routine maintenance, to replace a wooden pole with a metal pole or to remove even a single hazardous tree. It's critical that the federal government acts swiftly to streamline permitting and approval processes and to remove the barriers to wildfire mitigation on public lands."

Declining forest health

“I think it's one of the most perilous times that we've had in the entire [80-year] history of our program," says Ted Case, executive director of the Oregon Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

By the time the Holiday Farm Fire was controlled, it had killed one person, injured six others and burned more than 173,000 acres and nearly 770 homes and other buildings.

Oregon co-ops and their members are bracing for more as forest health continues to decline and the state's environment grows hotter and drier—volatile conditions that utilities throughout the West are facing.

In January, with NRECA's urging, the U.S. House passed the bipartisan Fix Our Forests Act, which would expedite federal approvals to allow co-ops to harden their grids and remove the hazardous vegetation that fuels blazes. The bill also aims to reduce meritless lawsuits that delay wildfire mitigation projects.

A bipartisan group of senators introduced their version of the bill in April. They cited figures from the National Interagency Fire Center showing that the number of acres burned across the nation jumped 231% from 2023 to 2024.

“The American West [is] on the front lines of a growing wildfire crisis—and the longer we wait, the more acres will burn, and the more families will be impacted," says Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, one of the lead sponsors of the bill.

NRECA helped shape the legislation, which would greatly expand the ability of co-ops to remove “hazard trees" that are in danger of sparking fires by falling from federal property onto electric lines. Under the bill, co-ops would be allowed to remove trees within 150 feet of their rights of way instead of the 10 feet that's currently permitted under federal law.

“It only takes a minute for a wildfire to start, but it can take years for the federal government to approve an electric cooperative's request to remove a single hazard tree that could spark another blaze," says NRECA CEO Jim Matheson.

'What I lose sleep over'

For West Oregon Electric Cooperative in Vernonia, the threat of trees and limbs falling onto power lines from federal land is not a hypothetical one. That's just what happened to the 3,800-member system in September 2020.

A large limb about 100 feet up a tree on public land managed by the federal Bureau of Reclamation fell onto the co-op's power line near Hagg Lake, igniting a fire that forced residents to evacuate the area and ultimately burned 150 acres around the lake. Fortunately, no one was injured and no homes were destroyed.

She notes that legislation or other measures that would cut federal red tape and expand utility rights of way for tree trimming “is something that we would sign onto."

The co-op is also working to move as many power lines underground as possible and is requiring that change for all new construction. But it is four to five times more expensive than stringing them overhead, Kohler explains, and the community does not have the kind of economic growth or large businesses to help finance such improvements quickly.

Kohler said liability is also a major concern for not-forprofit co-ops. WOEC's insurance costs rose about 20% in 2024, and insurance companies are beginning to limit the protection they provide for wildfire damage.

“One wildfire that destroys homes and businesses could bankrupt a co-op our size," Kohler says. “That's definitely what I lose sleep over. We're doing everything we can to not be the cause of the wildfire."

'Top issue'

ORECA's Case says wildfires have equaled federal hydropower issues in the last five years as one of the biggest concerns for the state's co-ops and for his colleagues in other Western states.

“While we have always taken the threat of wildfire seriously, what happened in 2020 focused our efforts on the importance of robust wildfire mitigation plans," he says. “It has emerged as the top issue during this legislative session."

Co-ops are doing their part to reduce the danger, Case says, by creating robust wildfire mitigation plans that include aggressively managing vegetation, moving power lines underground where feasible and installing electronic sensors that can alert them to threats.

Nevertheless, he says, wildfires could lead to legal judgments that would overwhelm or even bankrupt them.

“That's a really major policy decision [litigation reform] that policymakers and legislators in state and federal governments need to decide," he says. “That we need our utilities to be solvent and economically viable."

Rebuilding

As NRECA and electric co-ops focus on improving federal and state laws and regulations, co-ops damaged by wildfires are working to rebuild their electrical systems and help restore the tight-knit communities they serve.

Consumers Power Inc. Deputy Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Billy Terry was one of the first people into Santiam Canyon to assess the damage after a brutal 2020 fire burned more than 400,000 acres and killed five people.

As Terry drove through the eerie darkness at nightfall, the only outdoor light came from trees that were still slowly burning.

“It was your worst fear," he recalls.

The picturesque community of Detroit, Oregon, nestled along the Santiam River and a nearby lake that is popular for swimming, fishing and water skiing, was devoured by the flames. Only about 100 of its 500 homes survived.

“It was clear that this isn't storm damage," Terry says. “This is a complete rebuild."

Unable to restore power quickly to decimated Detroit, CPI rushed to help the still-standing community of Idanha, working with state and federal officials to cut through fallen timber and haul a giant generator up the steep mountain roads to create a microgrid to energize 150-plus residents.

“We knew we'd circle back to Detroit once they started letting people back in," Terry says.

Today, strands of blackened trees and stumps stand in testament to the devastation in Detroit. But those charred remains mix in with flowing waterfalls and green vegetation. Residents, encouraged by tax incentives from Marion County, have returned, rebuilding vacation houses and year-round homes.

Amazingly, Terry says, the co-op once again serves just as many meters as it did before the fire as the community reunites in their new A-frame cabins.

CPI has almost completed 36 miles of fire hardening efforts by converting power lines to underground or adding fire-resistant poles with covered conductor.

“We looked at it as an opportunity to rebuild our system better and stronger than before," Terry says.

Co-op CEO James Ramseyer, an Oregon native, says that warmer weather and drier conditions in the state have expanded the fire season. The prime months for fire danger used to be June through August or early September, he said. Now, they're April through October.

“We worry and spend a lot more time and money on wildfire season than on winter storm season now," Terry says. “That's been a big change in the last 10 or more years."

CPI leaders support many of the policy solutions that NRECA and statewide associations are pursuing.

“My biggest thing is, I'd like to see the ability to remove [trees and brush] from the rights of way," Terry says. “We need to be able to expand our rights of way, and then we need to be able to remove the red tape for us to get in and actually do our work, whether it's mitigation work or repairs."

Along with CPI, community leaders in the Detroit area fought to rebuild after the wildfires. Marion County commissioners worked with the state Legislature to secure temporary property tax rebates for homes within the wildfire area and waived the need for building permits if property owners rebuilt their homes and businesses on the same sites.

“We didn't want to … put any barriers up to stop people from coming back and rebuilding as quickly as possible," says Marion County Commissioner Kevin Cameron.

Lane Electric Cooperative's community has been slower to rebound than CPI's. Only about a third of the residents have returned. But those who remain have worked hard to rebuild, and they are reaching out to entice back the neighbors who left, including renters and those with inadequate insurance who escaped with little more than what they could carry on their backs.

One couple, Bill Wiese and Rikki Estrada, is getting a new, manufactured home courtesy of the nonprofit McKenzie Valley Long-Term Recovery Group, which was formed to help survivors of the Holiday Farm Fire.

They were saved by a family who had been vacationing at a nearby campground and couldn't figure out the best way to flee the fire since the main route out of the site had been closed. Wiese and Estrada were able to guide them through the night to safety.

“To me, it was an extremely spiritual thing," says Estrada, who lost her shoes struggling up the hill to safety. “We all found each other at just the right time."

Wiese says he is cheered by the rebuilding he sees around him—including a new fire station and public library to replace those that burned down—and feels like “our community is all coming back now."

One of the area's most important gathering places has long been Meyer's General Store and Liquor Shop in Blue River. It's been in Melanie Stanley's family for three decades, and the original business dates back to 1943. The night of the Holiday Farm Fire, residents gathered at the store to talk about a small wildfire that had begun to burn. Within hours, the entire town was under an evacuation order as flames destroyed Blue River, including the general store and Stanley's nearby home.

In February of this year, Stanley and the community finally celebrated the pouring of a concrete foundation for the new shop, which will stand just a few yards from Stanley's rebuilt house.

“My identity is wrapped up in this place," Stanley says, explaining her decision to return. “We've always been an integral part of the community, the unofficial town hall. It's more than just a store. It makes a difference."

Mary Ellen Wheeler, whose family has lived in the McKenzie Valley for four generations, has been working to rebuild her community, founding a nonprofit group called Locals Helping Locals—now part of the larger recovery group—to feed and shelter people who lost their homes. Her house was one of only four in a 2-mile area that survived the Holiday Farm Fire.

“As I looked out the rearview mirror as I drove away, all I could see was red," says Wheeler, the daughter of a logger. “It looked like the abyss."

Kathy Keable, who serves on Lane Electric's board of directors for the McKenzie district, also had to flee with her husband and two cats as flames reached the ridgetop just across the river from their home.

One of the co-op's lineworkers cut down trees that had fallen across the roads so that people could escape and find shelter at a nearby high school. The co-op also brought a generator to the local community center where people could meet and get out of the heat.

After initially being told that her house had burned down, Keable learned from a lineman that it was still standing.

“It was just a shock to have that quick reversal," the retired schoolteacher recalls. “We were so lucky to have a house. It gave me a feeling of really wanting to help other people. You try to figure out what your neighbors need and just do your best to help out."

Wheeler credits Lane Electric for their quick response to the disaster and working round the clock to restore power to all members within three days.

“Lane Electric was on the ground as soon as they could be," Wheeler says. “They lost all their infrastructure, but they were out there doing everything they could to restore power. I will never have anything bad to say about them. They're amazing.

“As awful as it was, I think in some ways the fire has brought us all closer," she says. “We love this community, and we're doing all we can to bring it back."

Related Content

• Infographic: Wildfire Mitigation
• How Co-ops Across the Country Confront Wildfire Threats
• A Growing Tech Toolset Emerges to Help Fight Wildfires
• The New Rules of Wildfire Insurance
• Podcast: Electric Co-ops Confront Growing Threat of Wildfires