Fire season outlook grim
OLYMPIA — This year’s fire season is upon us, according to Washington State Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz.
“Fire activity has increased considerably from earlier spring months,” Franz said in a press conference Friday. “We've seen about 600 fires burn roughly 17,000 acres statewide so far. On lands under Department of Natural Resources protection, we have had more than 330 fires burn just over 1,200 acres. And these numbers obviously are going to increase as the season goes forward. But it's clear that fire season has arrived and we're in it.”
The conference was timed to coincide with the lead-up to the Independence Day holiday, a time when fire danger is usually higher than average. The weather conditions across Washington are also conducive to wildfires, according to DNR Meteorologist Matthew Dehr.
“We do have moderate drought developing for large swaths of the state west of the Cascades,” Dehr said. “To put that in perspective, both Los Angeles and San Francisco received more rain in the first six months of 2023 than Seattle did.”
The weather heading into the holiday is going to heat up, Dehr said. The biggest potential for large fires is in the Okanogan Highlands, he said, but the west side of the state is looking at its hottest July since 2000, and the risk there is heightened.
Firefighters are well prepared this year, Franz said, with more than 29 air resources on exclusive use and pre-positioned in high-fire risk areas and 16 equipment bulldozers creating fire containment lines.
“We all are all staffed up on our firefighters; they have been trained and staffed and well positioned ready to assist and can work on these fires,” Franz said. “And we've also brought even more resources than ever before down to our local level. This year, we'll actually be doubling the resources we brought of 10 surplus engines to fire districts to 18. All of those are going to make it even more easy for us to be able to fight these fires contain them, and have a successful fire season.”
“We always run at about 70 to 80% of our (DNR) firefighters that are on duty or on call,” said State Forester George Geissler. “So you are looking at 600, 700 folks that are going to be available. And in addition to that, we also have local fire service that is called in. And we also have our federal partners that have personnel on board. So it's close to 1,000 folks that are available and on call, plus access to additional ones should we need them.”
Fires on average are 80-85% caused by people, Franz said.
“I think it's important for people to remember the Labor Day Firestorm (of 2020) where literally we had 56 fires in 24 hours. Because of the hurricane-force winds and very, very dry conditions, we had around 600,000 acres burned in 72 hours. And if I'm not mistaken, we didn't have any lightning strikes. So all of those fires are predominantly were human-caused.”
Franz urged residents to be careful not just with campfires, but with vehicles. Parking a vehicle on dry grass can easily cause a fire from the heat of the exhaust, she said. Chains dragging below a vehicle can also create sparks that in turn start fires in the brush alongside the road.
“People can use this time to make sure they've taken all steps necessary to create defensible space around their home so that when a fire comes that their home has a much greater chance of surviving that fire,” she said.
“You could add a couple of more watch-outs,” Geissler said. “People are gonna be in their backyards, you're gonna be grilling, don't dump your charcoal out. And as you're preparing for your outdoor activities, mowing can cause fires if you hit a rock … So just look for some of what you might consider mundane things that could potentially cause a fire in the conditions that we have.”
Joel Martin may be reached via email at jmartin@columbiabasinherald.com.
