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‘We are prepared. Are you?’: Summit County commissioners host array of officials for wildfire season preview (Summit Daily News)

A group meeting in a formal setting with multiple attendees around a large table, discussing various topics.

The Summit County commissioners and representatives of emergency-response agencies recently discussed the “risk picture” for the upcoming wildfire season, along with mitigation efforts, defensible space, community preparedness and fire restrictions and bans. Officials made the point that Summit County’s emergency-response organizations have spent years preparing for a situation like the upcoming wildfire season, which could be exacerbated by a historically low winter snowpack. Matt Benedict, a Red, White and Blue Fire division chief, said the county’s fire districts are well prepared for wildfires thanks to training, capital investment and resilience initiatives. “We talk about it in meetings all the time, that this is what we do,” Benedict said. “We are prepared. Are you?”