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	Podcast:		Other News
	Episode:		In Methow Valley, lessons from past wildfires help with current pandemic
	Category:		Government & Organizations
	Duration:		00:08:05
	Publish Date:		2020-04-20 18:13:25
	Description:		Can wildfires prepare you for a pandemic? The mayor of Twisp, in Washington state’s Methow Valley, says they can. In 2014, the Carlton Complex wildfire burned about 400 square miles near Twisp — an area roughly five times the size of Seattle. Then came the Okanogan Complex of fires the next year, burning some 476 square miles and killing three firefighters and gravely injuring another — a staggering tragedy anywhere, but one that was acutely felt in the small community of about 1,000 residents. Mayor Soo Ing-Moody told KNKX that her community has used the lessons from those earlier disasters , as COVID-19 cases spread across the state. As a result of the wildfires, “we were able to establish a long-term recovery organization here in our area,” Ing-Moody said. “That was able to be stood up during the coronavirus outbreak within days. We were able to start addressing issues on the ground during an emergency, as well as looking at long-term recovery needs.” She says they were especially
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