SEATTLE — Some wildfires causing problems along the West Coast are also happening amid extreme heat.
People across the country are watching firefighters in California working desperately to save ancient giant sequoias in Yosemite National Park.
The Washburn Fire grew on Monday and has burned across 3.5 square miles.
Officials are watching the conditions in Washington as well.
KIRO 7 spoke with Russ Lane, wildfire division manager for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources.
Lane said Washington could have fires like the one in California, but also said that the wildfire season is about a month late due to our wet weather.
As things continue to dry out around the state, the potential for fire increases. So far this year, there have been 181 fires that have burned 179 acres.
“That actually is a 10-year low on ignitions and also a 10-year low on acres burned, so we’ve done really well to this point. We want the public to remain vigilant on activities out in the wildlands,” said Lane.
Meanwhile in Utah, record-breaking heat combined with high winds have fueled wildfires.
The heat is also a major concern, and not just because of fires. In Texas, record-high temperatures prompted the state’s power grid operator to conserve energy to prevent blackouts.
Lane said though it’s only a matter of time before we see some fires, he doesn’t expect it be like 2021 with some large, sustained fires. He does expect to see some large fires here. It all depends on conditions and human activity going forward.
The National Interagency Fire Center said so far, 2022 has been above average in terms for the number of wildfires and the size of damage.
The agency says 35,000 wildfires have burned more than 7,000 square miles.
Currently, 79 large fires have burned nearly 3 million acres in the U.S.
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