When the Ridge Burns

A wildfire is moving toward Alder Basin. The evacuation plan says the county has more capacity than it does. Regional evacuation specialist Rowan Vale arrives to support local command and finds a system built on stale assumptions: competing maps, seasonal populations no one counted, vulnerable residents without reliable transport, and infrastructure whose redundancy exists mostly on paper. Fire-behavior specialist Gabe Sayer knows the terrain, the people, and how quickly a reasonable decision can become the wrong one. As the wind shifts and evacuation routes narrow, Rowan and Gabe must separate fact from assumption fast enough to keep a town moving-while confronting a growing attraction neither can treat as another variable. Because when the ridge burns, the deadliest failure may be the one everyone believed was already solved. When the Ridge Burns is Book 3 in the Morrowline Response series: intelligent romantic suspense about capable adults facing disasters, evidence, professional duty, and second chances.