From the Center for Investigative Reporting in PRX, this is Reveal.

I'm Al Leitzen.

The wildfire season started early this year, which has people worried that it could be as bad as last year.

And for people like me who live on the West Coast, well, that's terrifying because last year's wildfire season was horrific.

Dim orange skies, air that was dangerous to breathe, and ash falling from above for weeks

on end, not to mention the actual fires themselves.

Here in California, more than four million acres, an area bigger than Connecticut,

were incinerated. There were record-setting fires all over the West. This is Oregon Governor

Cape Brown on CBS's Face the Nation. Every year for the last 10 years, we burn about 500,000

acres. This year, this week alone, we burn about 500,000 acres.

This year, this week alone, we've burned over a million acres of Beautiful Oregon.

When the governor talks about beautiful Oregon, she's talking about places like Mill City in the western foothills of the Cascade Mountains.

It's surrounded by towering force.

I want to say about 9.30, 10 o'clock at night, I started hearing our fire whistle blow off in town.

Tim Kirsch is the mayor of Mill City.

I'm telling people that are in their driveways, need to pack up and or at least be ready to go in just, you know, in an instant.

Mill City was largely spared, but the towns surrounding it were leveled.

Every year that we see massive fires like that one, the debate picks up over the best ways to keep our forests from going up in smoke.

Some argue we need to cut down more trees to prevent fires and plant saplings that will soak up carbon.

Others argue our history of logging is the problem.

They say we should cut down fewer trees and use fire as a tool to help young forests grow into old ones.

Both sides believe their plans would help reverse climate change, even though they have opposite ways of getting there.

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