Guard to fight wildfires

OLYMPIA – Fire season is stretching state resources thin. To date, the Department of Natural Resources – the state’s largest firefighting force – has responded to 891 fires that have burned 113,000 acres (for context, DNR responded to 853 fires in all of 2017).

Wildfires are starting on both sides of the Cascades, with nearly 300 fires in western Washington.

Thankfully, using strategies that emphasize quick air attack and positioning equipment in high-risk areas, firefighters have been able to keep 94 percent of fires under 10 acres.

But the number of fires and weather – 96 percent of the stat...