The bot fails at some basic questions about fires. Cal Fire says it is working on fixes.

Severe lightning storms Monday night sparked 72 wildfires of varying sizes across Jackson and Josephine counties in southern Oregon on Tuesday.

Kelly Ramsey joins the Exchange to discuss her new memoir.

California sent incarcerated firefighters to battle blazes in Los Angeles this year. It’s moving toward paying them minimum wage for their work in emergencies.

Oregon lawmakers have voted to repeal the state’s contentious wildfire hazard map, which subjected homeowners in certain areas at high risk of wildfires to stricter building codes and requirements to reduce vegetation on their properties.

The measure, House Bill 3940, would tax oral nicotine products and tap the interest on Oregon’s rainy day savings account and put the money toward wildfire mitigation.

Desperate for money to get through the next two wildfire seasons and with few proposals on the table that could meet costs and get passed by the Oregon Legislature, Gov. Tina Kotek is proposing to skim some money off of the state’s “rainy day fund.”

Gov. Tina Kotek has signaled her support for potentially using some of the kicker or other one-time funding to invest in wildfire work across the state.

Belinda Brown, Director of Tribal Partnerships and Chair of the Inter-Tribal Ecosystem Restoration Partnership joins the Exchange.

Many Central Oregon cities started fire restrictions this week as the forecast for much of the state predicts dry, warm weather and little precipitation ahead.

But there is a glimmer of hope: Federal firefighting managers said their workforce is about where it needs to be for the fire season ahead, despite the Trump administration’s efforts.

Republicans say Democrats are using the bill as a bargaining chip to get Republicans to vote on redirecting $1 billion of kicker tax to fund wildfire mitigation work.