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Wildfire season is starting later this year in Central Washington, and agencies say they are ready

By Luke Thompson, Yakima Herald-Republic
Published: July 4, 2022, 8:49am

YAKIMA — Significant late snow followed by a cooler-than-normal spring will mean a later start and ideally less danger this wildfire season.

Washington Department of Natural Resources spokesperson Ryan Rodruck said the Northwest Region’s preparedness level remains at 1, the lowest level. Along with other state and federal agencies, the department is ramping up its resources as the temperature rises to create hot, dry conditions.

A strong snowpack and one of the coolest Aprils ever recorded should keep so-called thousand-hour fuels and ten-thousand hour fuels at the upper elevations less susceptible to fire for most of the summer, said Mike Davis, assistant fire management officer for operations for the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest.

DNR spokesperson Thomas Kyle-Milward noted that the unusual spring gave the agency time to fully deploy assets in advance around the state and train personnel before they’re needed for serious wildfires.

However, the wet spring could also mean more dry “light fuels” by late July and August, consisting mostly of tall grass closer to communities. Another hot and dry summer could be on the way with higher-than-normal temperatures and below-normal rainfall in the forecast from the National Interagency Fire Center.

Overall conditions should be much more favorable than the driest and hottest year on record for the region in 2021, according to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center. Washington and Oregon spent a record 76 days at preparedness level 4 or 5, including 65 at the highest, level 5, from July 11 to Sept. 17.

Nearly 1,900 fires in Washington burned 674,249 acres in 2021, and Yakima experienced plenty of smoke from the nearby Schneider Springs Fire, the state’s largest at 107,118 acres. Davis hopes those numbers won’t be so high this summer for most of the Northwest, although he noted southeast Oregon to northern California may be more at risk due to a smaller snowpack.

“I would expect a normal fire season,” Davis said. “But it’s kind of hard, considering the fact that we’ve had an abnormal fire season the last, probably, 10 years.”

Firefighters and aircraft

Kyle-Milward said DNR has hired 691 firefighters while expanding its air resources, purchasing more heavy equipment and promoting personnel, thanks to House Bill 1168. Its passage in April 2021 provides $125 million every two years to help the state prevent catastrophic wildfires.

Along with two helicopters and two fire bosses — amphibious planes equipped to scoop and dump water — in Yakima, Kyle-Milward said south-central Washington’s resources include two helicopters in Wenatchee, two scoopers and two tankers in Moses Lake, and two helicopters and two fire bosses in Dallesport, near the Columbia River.’

The Forest Service expects to have around 270 firefighters for the region, Davis said, along with three short-haul aircraft and 23 smokejumpers. All those numbers are down somewhat, which Davis attributed largely to a nationwide worker shortage.

He also acknowledged pay as low as $15 an hour has made the hiring process difficult. The Forest Service announced a temporary pay increase of $20,000 a year, or 50% of their base salary, will go into effect on July 3 with retroactive pay dating back to Oct. 1, 2021, to follow.

An initiative to hire local high school graduates requires them to apply by September of their junior year of high school, another hurdle, he said.

Although fire season’s delayed here in Washington, it’s already well underway in other areas throughout the country, including California, the Southwest and even parts of Alaska. Kyle-Milward estimated DNR has sent approximately 200 firefighters to Alaska, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Colorado so far, giving them valuable experience before they’re called upon to offer protection in their home state.

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