(The Center Square) – Washington Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz today urged citizens to be safe and responsible while outdoors this weekend due to extreme fire hazard conditions across the state.
“We are in the thick of wildfire season,” Franz said Friday morning on TVW, the state’s public broadcast network.
She asked citizens to “carry a message …to be vigilant against starting new wildfires as we move deeper into the summer knowing that 80 to 90% of our fires are caused by humans.”
Over the past week, much of the Northwest has experienced daytime high temperatures in the upper 90s and low 100s with low humidity, leaving the region “incredibly hot and dry” and prime for wildfire conditions, said Franz.
Temperatures are expected to drop going into the weekend as a cooler dry front moves in, but that is also bringing windy weather with continued low humidity across eastern Washington and northern Idaho.
With winds of 20 to 30 mph and gusts up to 40 mph forecast today, the National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning, saying any new or existing fires will have the potential to spread rapidly.
Vaughn Cork, a fuels specialist with the Washington Department of Natural Resources, called the combination “very dangerous conditions” and said risk of fire is extreme across most of the state.
Currently, there is a ban on outdoor burning and campfires on state-managed lands. Many other jurisdictions have similar bans in place.
Franz commended “the excellent work” of firefighters across Washington for their efforts thus far this year. To date, over 1,200 fires have been reported, which Franz said is about average at this point, but only 91,500 acres have burned, which is well below average.
The goal, she said, is to provide a quick response to any new blaze and keep it under 10 acres in size.
Franz noted that the state DNR has acquired additional aerial and ground equipment for fire suppression, and those are strategically placed in higher-risk areas. She cited such locations as Cle Elum and Goldendale, which can see high winds and fuel loads in the east Cascade foothills.
Currently, the largest blaze in Washington is the Sourdough Fire near Newhalem, which has burned over 4,500 acres of primarily federal forest land and is 11% contained. Franz said suppression efforts are hampered because of the steep, rugged terrain. At times, she said, boulders have rolled down hillsides onto the North Cascades Highway, posing a danger to firefighters and the public.
To the east, another fire has burned about 255 acres in the Blue Lake area near Washington Pass, and the Airplane Lake Fire has burned an estimated 900 acres of timber in a remote section of the Glacier Peak Wilderness northwest of Leavenworth.
Those fires along with others burning in Canada have produced smoky conditions that degraded air quality across Washington in recent days.
Since Thursday, 17 new fires have popped up “in every corner of the state,” but they have been confined to a total of 113 acres, said Franz.
This Friday afternoon, the Grant County Sheriff’s Office reported a wildfire burning in Douglas County was moving toward Sun Lakes State Park and a Level 2 evacuation notice has been issued to residents and visitors in the area.
Franz said the month ahead continues to look “hot and dry, so people really need to take precautions” to minimize threats to property, communities, and firefighters.”
Franz was mindful of this week’s blaze on the Hawaiian island of Maui that so far has claimed over 100 lives – “the deadliest fire in American history, truly a devastating and heartbreaking scene,” she said – and a rapidly moving wildfire that largely destroyed the small community of Malden, located south of Spokane in eastern Washington, in September 2021.
Such incidents, she said, “have kept us up many nights worrying about how easily something like that (can) happen ….”
Franz made a point to promote the Seattle Mariners’ “Wildfire Prevention Night” during the team’s Aug. 29 home game at T-Mobile Park against the Oakland A’s. Each ticket purchase includes a $5 donation to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation, an organization which provides financial assistance to the families of fallen and injured firefighters and educates the public about wildland fires.
