The Almeda Drive fire proved beyond a doubt that fires now do things they did not used to do. It was an expensive lesson, costing the Rogue Valley 2,500 homes.
Oregon State University and the City of Ashland are determined to learn the lesson, and not repeat it. OSU recently landed $750,000 in grants to fund new approaches to understanding fire, and building community resilience to it. Plans call for a global center--involving OSU and other schools--to take multi-disciplinary approaches to fire issues, a graduate degree program combining the disciplines of forestry and engineering, and the placement of a doctoral student in Ashland, where the Almeda Drive fire started.
We get further details from Christopher Dunn, a Forestry Assistant Professor, and Erica Fischer, an Associate Professor of Engineering at OSU.