Untold: How an Oregon ranger saved hundreds from the 2020 Labor Day Fires

Explore Oregon Podcast: The state's most beautiful places and biggest issues

In this episode, host Zach Urness talks with an Oregon ranger that saved hundreds of people from the path of the deadly 2020 Labor Day Fires. Nikki Swanson, Sweet Home district ranger for Willamette National Forest, spurred a major evacuation and closure of the Mount Jefferson Wilderness just days before the Lionshead Fire burned the area and nearly 200,000 acres on Sept. 7-8, 2020. She is credited with saving a number of lives five years ago. “She is a hero, not properly thanked,” Linn County Commissioner Will Tucker said.