Climate Change in the Rural Northwest: Learning from Malden

Authors

Scott Hokonson, Pine Creek Community Long Term Restoration Group

Date of Event

3-14-2022

Description

On September 7, 2020 wildfires raged through northern Whitman County, Washington, fanned by wind gusts as high as 50 mph. The Babb Road Fire consumed more than 15,000 acres of Palouse farmland and habitat and engulfed the towns of Malden and Pine City, forcing nearly 200 residents to evacuate. The fast-moving fire consumed the Town of Malden in only two and a half hours, spewing briquette-sized embers and destroying 80% of the town's buildings, many down to their foundations. Among the rubble are the majority of homes and the town's only post office, town hall, fire station, food bank, and library.

Scott Hokonson is Project Director for the Pine Creek Community Long Term Restoration Group. He is a Malden firefighter and Malden town council member who was working towards his masters in urban planning and social work when Malden burned in the Labor Day fires of 2020. Hokonson will discuss the urgency of planning to be resilient to our changing climate and lessons learned that can help other communities in the Inland Northwest.

Sponsored By

Gonzaga University Center for Climate, Society, and the Environment

Recommended Citation

Hokonson, Scott, "Climate Change in the Rural Northwest: Learning from Malden" (2022). Climate, Water, and the Environment Events. 20.
https://repository.gonzaga.edu/climateevents/20

Copyright Information

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