The Northwest’s early dry spring has sparked an early wildfire season.
Washington Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz says her agency, the Department of Natural Resources, has already responded to nearly 100 fires in and around state land this spring, about 40% more than last spring at this time.
“Fully one-third of these fires were caused by debris burning, human-caused, making them the highest cause of human-ignited fires that we face," she said.
"That is not the condition just for this year. It’s going back through the last decade, which is why we are truly pushing a prevention and education message about debris burning and human-caused wildfires on our social media platforms all season long."
Franz says those fires have only burned 124 acres, in part due to quick responses by fire agencies.
Matthew Dehr, the agency’s lead meteorologist, says the conditions for the rest of the spring call for more warm, dry weather, just right for spring fires.
“I do think we’ll end up snow off [the mountains] two to four weeks earlier than expected. With the dry spring, that really reduces the buffer we have as we enter fire season. There’s not as much room for a heat wave in early June because that could really spark an early start to fire season," he said during a Friday press briefing.
Dehr says there may be some relief in mid-to-late June. He says the region is shifting from an El Niño weather pattern to a La Niña regime and that typically means a short period of cool, wet weather. If that happens, he says, the region may experience a routine fire season.
Washington fire officials say they have deployed people and machines around the state.
The DNR's Angie Lane told reporters the state has increased its available air resources to 36.
“Many are helicopters. We’ve got our single-engine air tankers. Primarily we contract with Fire Boss for those. We have our air attack platform. We’ve got type-two tankers and then our scoopers that will be back on contract. Those will primarily be at bases where they can be supported with retardant," she said.
She says her agency also has a portable facility to support aircraft that drop fire retardant.
Lane says DNR-owned and contracted aircraft are deployed in all corners of the state. There are four in Deer Park, one in Chewelah, three in Omak, one in Electric City and two in Moses Lake.
DNR officials say they will post updated wildfire information throughout the season on their website and social media channels.
