‘The fuels are absolutely ready to burn.’ Here’s what to know about the wildfire season
Wildfire season has kicked into gear in Washington, with fires now in multiple areas of Eastern Washington, including Cow Canyon, Williams Lake, Vantage and Lind, according to the Department of Natural Resources on Friday.
Although most of the state has been fortunate to have a light fire season so far, Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz said that could soon change.
“As we’ve seen just in the last few days, the fires in our state have now started to grow as we’ve seen increasing hot temperatures and obviously significant wind conditions,” Franz told reporters during a virtual news conference Friday morning.
“These conditions are not unexpected, but the recent fires have been very difficult to control. Those windy conditions have led to extreme fire behavior, making suppression very challenging as the fires shift directions rapidly and unpredictably.”
Franz noted several areas with fires of concern.
Two large fires ignited Wednesday, one in Cow Canyon which is about 13 miles southwest of Ellensburg, and the other at Williams Lake, about 11 miles south of Cheney.
A fire near the town of Vantage also has been burning since Monday, and dozens of residents were ordered to evacuate due to the level 3 fire in the area. A number of local firefighters from Thurston County were called up to help fight that fire.
On Thursday, a “troubling incident” developed near Lind, a town of about 500 people, Franz said. A grass fire burned approximately 2,000 acres and the entire town was evacuated. While evacuation orders have been lifted and the fire has been contained, six homes and eight other structures were destroyed.
Wildfire Division Manager Russ Lane noted that the Vantage fire is now sitting at around 30,000 acres, but that fire service partners were doing a good job of protecting structures in the area. The fire was initially pushing east but is now heading west, threatening a wind farm. Ground sources and aircraft will prioritize the area Friday, Lane said.
The Cow Canyon fire, on the other hand, is not contained and numerous residents are threatened there, he said. This area will also be prioritized Friday by air attack.
The Williams Lake wildfire is at about 1,500 acres and 30% contained, Lane said. He said agencies had “high concerns” for that area, but some “great firefighting” is leading those agencies to believe they will continue to progress towards containment and prevent any further damage.
Fire service engines were lost in both Williams Lake and Lind, but no personnel were hurt, Lane said. The engines were burned after being stuck in heavy growth, which is a prime condition for fine fuels, he noted.
“As we move now into the weekend, we’re already seeing significant progress on these fires and we’re hopeful that we’ll continue to see improvements,” Franz said.
“Our thoughts are with the residents that have been directly affected by these fires, whether they were evacuated or they have tragically lost a home. Our gratitude is with the brave firefighters and first responders who have been working day and night to keep our state safe.”
Lane said agencies have been briefing for several weeks because they are expecting a “rapid transition” in the fire season.
“While that early wet spring did give us a delayed start to the fire season, it also promoted a lot of growth of fine fuels, especially on the Columbia basin,” Lane said. “With our most recent heat dome, those fuels have come online with a vengeance so we’re seeing very active fire behavior.”
Lane said incident commanders brief every day, and the number of commanders has increased to seven from one in two days. He said incident commanders have been adding new incidents to their board everyday.
“It is a rapidly evolving situation in Washington and in the Northwest,” Lane added.
Lane cautioned about a developing fire in Riparia, located in Whitman County on the Snake River. The fire, which emerged Thursday, rapidly grew to 6,000 acres overnight, he said, and teams have been already activated to help local fire departments. The steep, complex terrain in the area will make it difficult, however, Lane added.
“There’s a lot of initial attack that’s getting high success and that’s because of the resources we do have available, so we’re catching literally dozens of fires in that small to moderate size range that typically don’t make the news,” Lane said.
Matt Dehr, wildland fire meteorologist for DNR, said the record-setting high heat conditions from last week along with high winds primed the fires that broke out this week.
Although high winds aren’t expected this weekend, temperatures are expected to climb, with temperatures near or above 100 in much of Eastern Washington from Sunday through Wednesday, Dehr said. With no winds, he said DNR isn’t expecting “a large outbreak of new fires” but with the current dry conditions, active fires will continue to burn.
Dehr said he is concerned about next week’s conditions, which could potentially lead to “significant, critical fire weather.” A low pressure on the coast will make its way to Washington on Tuesday or Wednesday, and Dehr said the main concern is thunderstorms and gusty winds.
DNR will continue to monitor because “the fuels are absolutely ready to burn,” Dehr said.
While fire activity is relatively low for this late in the season, Franz said Washingtonians need to be aware that this is the prime part of the season, and with hotter and drier conditions, fires can erupt quickly.
“It is likely going to get worse before it gets better,” Franz noted. “Don’t be the spark in conditions like these — one might be all it takes.”
This story was originally published August 5, 2022 at 1:08 PM.
