Fire resources stretched thin

Five uncontained large fires in Washington, along with numerous smaller fires, mean firefighting resources are now stretched thin across the state, according to wildfire experts at the Washington State Department of Natural Resources.

Wildfires currently raging in Oregon, California, Idaho and Montana have pulled firefighters and air resources to those states, where the biggest fires are commanding national attention.

That concerns firefighters here in Washington, as the number of human-caused fires continues to rise through a record-breaking summer of drought and high temperatures. To reduce that threat, the state’s firefighters are looking to the public for help.

“A very large number of wildfires in Washington are being started by people,” said Mary Verner, deputy for wildfire at Natural Resources. “Because conditions are so bad, common activities like operating farm equipment or target shooting can spark fires that turn into major destructive events. We need everyone to take the utmost care around any activity that might start a wildfire.”

The department is the state’s lead wildland firefighting agency, protecting about 13 million acres of forest and grasslands across the state. As of August 11, there have been 751 fires on protected lands, with 628 of them caused by human activity. By this time last year, the state had seen 565 fires, with 455 of those human caused.

Large fires currently burning in the state include Cougar Creek, which started last week, burning on the southeast flank of Mount Adams; Wolverine, near Lake Chelan; Paradise, on the western border of Olympic National Park; Baldy, northeast of Colville; and Rutter Canyon, north of Spokane. Numerous smaller wildfires pop up daily throughout the state, which require immediate action by crews with engines and helicopters to stop these fires before they grow.

“Despite the high number of wildfire starts this year, our ability to be aggressive with initial attack has kept the majority of fires small,” said Verner. “If we can reduce the number of human-started fires, we will have more resources to fight fires caused by lightning, which we cannot prevent.”

As a period of dangerous fire weather continues, on August 12 the agency was to move one of the state’s top wildfire fighting teams to Moses Lake, in addition to prepositioning crews, fire engines, helicopters and firefighting aircraft at key locations around the state.

As of August 12, areas in the following counties are under a red flag warning: Okanogan, Ferry, Stevens, Pend Oreille, Chelan, Douglas, Lincoln, Spokane, Kittitas, Grant, Adams, Whitman, Franklin, Benton, Yakima, Klickitat, Walla Walla, and Columbia. A red flag warning is a fire-weather warning issued by the National Weather Service to inform area firefighting and land management agencies that conditions pose elevated danger of wildfire.

Wildfire mission

Administered by Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldmark, the Department of Natural Resources is responsible for preventing and fighting wildfires on 13 million acres of private, state and tribal-owned forestlands. It is the state’s largest on-call fire department, with more than 1,000 employees trained and available to be dispatched to fires as needed. During fire season, this includes more than 700 employees who have other permanent jobs with the agency and about 400 seasonal employees hired for firefighting duties. Additionally, adult offenders from the Department of Corrections and juvenile offenders from the Department of Social and Health Services Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration support firefighting efforts through the department’s Correctional Camps Program. The department also participates in Washington’s coordinated interagency approach to firefighting.