Seven fires burning in Olympic National Park; one evidence of what could come with climate change

By Lauren Gallup
Smoke plume from Delabarre Fire on Sept. 16, 2023. (Courtesy: InciWeb)
Visible from the smoke they’re emitting, seven fires are burning within the wilderness of Olympic National Park on the Olympic Peninsula. Lightning strikes ignited the fires Aug. 28 and all were burning relatively small until this past weekend, when the Delabarre fire took advantage of hot, dry conditions and took off like a bandit, growing to over 3,500 acres. Read More

Federal government allocates over $6 billion to wildfire technology and management

By Lauren Gallup
Firefighters stand in the distance with drip torches along a road surrounded by trees. A fire burns in the foreground of the picture. It's climbing up some smaller trees.
Lawmakers are allocating over $6 billion this fiscal year to support the Department of the Interior and the United States Forest Service in wildfire response. It’s an increase of 14% from the last year’s funding, and will support wildfire suppression, operations and a new research hub to aid fire management. This fiscal year, the forest service will see an increase of Read More

Electric Utilities In Northwest Spending Millions On Upgrades To Reduce Risk Of Wildfire Ignitions

By Tom Banse
Utility crews replace power poles burned in the Beachie Creek Fire east of Salem in September 2020.
Private electric utilities in the Pacific Northwest are planning tens of millions of dollars in upgrades to reduce the risk that their power lines could spark wildfires during extreme weather. Utilities such as Pacific Power, Avista, Idaho Power, Portland General Electric and Puget Sound Energy are either required to or are voluntarily submitting wildfire mitigation plans. Read More

Despite What The Logging Industry Says, Cutting Down Trees Isn’t Stopping Catastrophic Wildfires

By NWPB News
Oregon State University researcher Chris Dunn next to a Douglas fir, which burned in Oregon’s September 2020 fires and was later cut down by fire crews who considered it a safety hazard. CREDIT: Jes Burns/OPB
In the decades since government restrictions reduced logging on federal lands, the timber industry has promoted the idea that private lands are less prone to wildfires, saying that forests thick with trees fuel bigger, more destructive blazes. But an analysis by OPB and ProPublica shows last month’s fires burned as intensely on private forests with large-scale logging Read More

Evans Canyon Fire In Yakima And Kittitas Counties Over 75K Acres, At Least 6 Homes Burned

By NWPB News
A plane drops fire retardant near a home Sept. 2, 2020, during the Evans Canyon Fire burning in Yakima and Kittitas counties. Courtesy of Tony Miller
Firefighters are stretched thin across the Northwest, and officials are trying to keep crews healthy with bagged lunches and smaller camps. So with near-record temps this weekend, they’re asking Labor Day revelers to please watch those campfires (though campfires are banned in much of Washington due to fire danger). And make sure chains on trailers and boats don’t drag and Read More
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