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Forests and grasslands in eastern Washington are at high risk for large, intense wildfire. This spring Washington’s Department of Fish and Wildlife plans to using controlled burning on more than 1,000 acres in Okanogan, Ferry and Pend Oreille counties.

Wildfires pose a threat to the energy sector — both the critical infrastructure that generates energy, like dams and wind turbines, and the infrastructure that delivers electricity to consumers, mainly transmission lines. The Sourdough Fire in Whatcom County has caused two dams that provide power to Seattle to go offline for stretches of multiple days — the Ross and Diablo dams. Earlier this summer, the Newell Road fire near Goldendale had crews battling flames under wind turbines.

Four utilities in Washington state received funding from the U.S Department of Energy to strengthen the electrical grid against future wildfires and ensure reliability to customers. That funding comes from the federal Grid Resilience and Innovations Partnerships Program, which is investing in 58 projects across 44 states.

Washington Senator Maria Cantwell questioned the acting head of the U.S. Forest Service, Vicki Christiansen, this week. Among the senator's top concerns: There may not be enough air support for fires in the West this year.

We’ve seen more wildfires burning into urban communities lately. But there’s a lot homeowners can do to protect themselves, according to top scientists at the Missoula Fire Sciences Lab.

Wildland firefighters are a tight-knit group. After years of fighting fires together in the remote wilderness and on the edges of suburbia, you get to know a lot of people. And for one fire company in Washington’s Methow Valley, the bond is even stronger.

For the third year in a row, a military reconnaissance aircraft is joining the battle against Pacific Northwest wildfires. This specialized plane can locate new fires from many miles away.

Wildfires can be frightening and result in overflowing emotions. Fear, anxiety and even depression can arise before, during and after these natural disasters, but specialists say there are still resources to cope with the trauma that environmental emergencies can cause.

Wildfire season used to start in mid-June, say state officials coordinating the response. Now they’re already out fighting wildfires in April, even in places west of the Cascades.

When a wildfire starts, whether by lightning or human hand, it is almost always smothered.