A song, a story, and an activity book teach Eastern Oregon's youngest campers one idea: be smart, don't let fires start
Most wildfires do not start with lightning. They start with people. Nearly nine in ten wildfires across the country are human-caused, and many trace back to a campfire that was never put all the way out.
Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative (OTEC) is starting where the next generation does, giving the kids who grow up camping and exploring Eastern Oregon the habits that keep this country from burning. This week the cooperative is launching the Wildfire Information Learning and Development Program, the
WILD Program, a set of education tools built to reach children in third grade and under and the families
who camp with them. The launch arrives just as summer vacation and wildfire season begin together across Baker, Union, Grant, and Harney counties.
At the center of the program is a character named Ember Hare and a group called the WILD Bunch. Thetools come in three forms, because children do not all learn the same way. There is “The WILDfire Song,” a tune built to stick the way a Schoolhouse Rock! verse sticks, so a child carries the words to the campfire without being told to. There is a story book, “The WILD Bunch and Their Camping Adventure,” that teaches fire safety in the form a story makes easy to hold onto. And there is an activity book of puzzles and games, so the lesson is something a child does with their hands, not only something they hear.
“Wildfire prevention has often been aimed at adults,” said Paige Witham, OTEC’s Marketing and Community Relations Coordinator. “The goal was to reach kids in a way their parents could join in easily. Summer is full of fun that can turn dangerous when one wrong step is taken, and there is real value in giving kids a chance to work alongside their older siblings and parents to prevent wildfires.”
The approach is grounded in how memory works. Music is a proven mnemonic, the reason most adults can still recite a jingle from childhood. A narrative gives a fact a place to live, so it is recalled long after a statistic fades. Hands-on play anchors a lesson through doing. The WILD Program uses all three, on the principle that there is no one-size-fits-all way to teach something this important.
“The WILDfire Song” video is live now and free to watch.
The story book and activity book arrive this week. Additional pieces, including county camping guides and wildfire-prevention activities, are planned
through the summer. The program carries the values the cooperative was built on for its 32,000 member-owners across Eastern Oregon. Safety comes first. So does sharing what people need to know, and protecting the land everyone here depends on.
Teachers, camp directors, and parents who want to bring the WILD Bunch to a classroom, summer camp
or into your home can write to communications@otec.coop to request materials.
For more information, visit otec.coop/wild.
