Wildfire Risk Prompts State Of Emergency Declaration For Washington
Listen
The National Guard is gearing up to help fight wildfire in eastern Washington, and Governor Jay Inslee has declared a state-wide emergency.
According to a statement from Governor Inslee, catastrophic wildfires outside Washington state – in California and Oregon – have put a strain on available resources. The governor’s emergency declaration allows for the state Department of Natural Resources to call on the National Guard for help. They’re staging two Blackhawk helicopters out of Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane. Five 20-member hand crews have already been deployed in northeastern Washington
Jeff Cote, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Spokane, said current weather conditions are a “perfect storm” for increasing wildfire risk.
“Some lightning, without precipitation and then wind – all of those things just kind of mixed together and then drying out the fuels,” Cote said, “is kind of a perfect storm to bring us to extreme fire weather behavior or critical fire conditions,” he said.
There’s no significant rainfall in the forecast, although temperatures should fall from triple digit highs over the next week. According to the DNR, 96 percent of the state is experiencing drought conditions.
Copyright 2018 Northwest News Network
Related Stories:
Intense fire week forces road closures and evacuation notices in WA
Fire crews continue firing wildfires to keep on high alert in the Northwest.
Gwen Fire forced evacuation in Juliaetta, Idaho
Multiple fires in Latah and Nez Perce counties in Idaho forced the evacuation of Juliaetta, Myrtle, Cherryland, and Arrow areas Thursday night.
Washington deals with peak fire season conditions, state agencies ready to respond
Everyone watching fires around Washington this week held their breath as about 600 lightning strikes hit the landscape across the state.
The Washington State Department of Natural Resources, who, alongside agency partners, prepared for those conditions this week by pulling in out-of-state resources and pre-positioning crews. The lightning strikes ignited at least two fires in the state, the Easy fire and Swawilla fire. According to a public information officer on the Swawilla fire, a series of fires started from lightning strikes on the Colville Reservation this week.
