Oregon Public Broadcasting

The largest wildfire in the Northwest has been fully contained. But fire crews aren’t done with their work. Now they’re rehabbing the 22,000 acres that have burned on the Colville Indian Reservation in northeastern Washington. Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports.

When fire crews aggressively attacked this fire, they caused their own damage to the ecosystem.

They used bulldozers and shovels to dig fire lines and build roads so they could stop the fire’s advance.

Left alone, the newly burned land would be vulnerable to erosion when rain falls.

Cindy Bork is a spokeswoman for the Colville Reservation fire. She says the rehabilitation process started even before the flames were completely out.

Cindy Bork: “We pull in material from the site that has been pushed away by dozers. Pull big boulders back onto those dozer lines. Pull big stumps, branches, things to naturalize it. Interrupt that flow of water.”

Many of the crews that battled the fire have been sent elsewhere. The people who are left are watching smoldering areas to make sure they don’t flare up in the heat.

They’ll soon get a break from the weather. Temperatures are expected to fall into the 70s by Wednesday with a good chance of rain.