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Good morning, Northwest.

Oregon may be in for a busy fire season after a warm, dry winter.

OPB’s Kathryn Styer Martínez visited rappel training in Central Oregon, where the U.S. Forest Service trains some of its most highly skilled firefighters to drop into hard-to-reach areas. Her report starts today’s newsletter.

In other news, the Portland Trail Blazers evened their first-round playoff series last night with a win over the San Antonio Spurs, whose star player left the game with a concussion.

Here’s your First Look at Wednesday’s news.

— Bradley W. Parks

Firefighting rappel crews sharpen their skills in Central Oregon forests

Last week, 250 wildland firefighters from across the country traveled to Bend to attend the annual national rappel recertification for the U.S. Forest Service Helicopter Rappel Program.

It’s the main training for returning rappeller crewmembers this year and a requirement of the job. Rappel crews are specially trained wildland firefighters who drop into active fires in hard-to-reach areas of the backcountry. They respond to all types of incidents but are typically deployed to small fires often started by lightning strikes.

The highly skilled wildland firefighters are likely to be in great demand this year as a concerning fire season draws near. (Kathryn Styer Martínez)

Learn More

3 things to know

• NW Natural says it’s paying back nearly 200 households after inadvertently cutting off their gas service late last year due to an internal mistake. (Monica Samayoa)
• An overnight-only shelter in Portland’s Pearl District will close. The Northrup Shelter and others like it are a key element of Mayor Keith Wilson’s plan to end unsheltered homelessness. (Alex Zielinski)
• A little-known federal government agency that kills wild animals at the request of ranchers and farmers accidentally killed two federally protected wolves in Southern Oregon last summer. (Alejandro Figueroa)

Northwest headlines

• Christine Drazan holds sizable lead in GOP race for Oregon governor, new poll suggests (Dirk VanderHart)
• After almost 2-year lapse, Oregon counties get nearly $100 million from Secure Rural Schools (Alex Baumhardt)
• Bandon zoo owner pleads guilty to 47 animal neglect, drug and weapons charges (Justin Higginbottom)
• Trail Blazers rally for 106-103 win over Spurs to even series after Wembanyama exits with injury (Raul Dominguez)

Listen in on OPB’s daily conversation

“Think Out Loud” airs at noon and 8 p.m. weekdays on OPB Radio, opb.org and the OPB News app. Today’s planned topics (subject to change):

• OHSU researcher’s work offers glimpse into future of cancer detection, possible new treatments
• Health officials warn Oregon measles outbreak is growing

Why do we have allergies?

That itchy, sneezy, scratchy feeling in your eyes, nose and throat is a sign that allergy season is here.

Despite land animals living with pollen for hundreds of millions of years, it can still make us miserable.

What gives?

This OPB throwback from 2018 looks into a simple question with a complicated answer: Why do we have allergies? (MacGregor Campbell)

Learn More

Subscribe to OPB’s First Look to receive Northwest news in your inbox six days a week.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/04/22/firefighter-rappel-training-bend-first-look/