Preparing Washington for another wildfire season

It’s almost the start of summer, which means wildfire season has already begun, but what’s the risk for Washington?

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources held a wildfire orientation on Thursday to discuss fire readiness and urging people to practice extreme caution in the coming months.

Meteorologist Matthew Dehr said the recent weather has caused a late start to fire season.

“We are in the strongest La Nina for the month of April and May for the last 72 years,” Dehr said. “There’s some data going back, and it’s only strengthened three times in the last 72 years through the spring months and that’s the culprit for our wet April and May.”

With the recent stretch of wet and cooler weather conditions, the fire outlook isn’t looking as severe.

“This is the weather pattern we’re looking at,” Dehr said. “We’ll have a big high over the central Pacific. The Great Basin low is going to be below normal. That will give us onshore flow across Western Washington. The heat can migrate up to Eastern Washington a little easier, but to start out this season, the onshore flow should keep us below average for the month of June.”

It’s been a lighter fire season this spring with statistics of fire crews responding to fewer fires compared to last spring, but officials warn to be on the lookout for our ever-changing weather patterns.

For the first part of the year, firefighters have kept 95% of the fires to ten acres or less.

As of May 31, just over 75 acres have burned on Department of Natural Resources land with 74 fires having occurred on the east side of the state and just seven on the west side.

Those totals are much lower than in April last year.

Recreational fire continues to be the top cause of forest fires.

Meteorologists predict the west coast will see its first heatwave in the next seven to 14 days, primarily in California.

Officials said we are most likely to see less fire potential through June, an increase in July, with August and September being the most challenging months.

The Department of Natural Resources added they’re also struggling to recruit firefighters and are always looking for more to join the team.

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