Western Washington Wildfire Risk

7/10/2019 (Permalink)

Western Washington unfortunately faces elevated wildfire risk in 2019

The Pacific Northwest has suffered its fair share of fires over the past several years, many of which SERVPRO came to the rescue of. In Washington State last year (2018), there were 1,744 fires that affected nearly 439,000 acres, according to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center. Of those, 1,457 were human-caused, accounting for nearly 280,000 of the acres that burned.

Many of us ask; what causes these fires? The answer is surprising: People! Keep in mind safety when smoking, lighting fireworks and campfires especially in dry areas. The majority of wildfires are caused by burn piles that get out of hand- pay attention to what laws your county has in place about burning. Our dying forests and diseased trees are the perfect breeding ground for fire and have intensified the wildfire season. Our rapidly dying forests are largely due to disease and pests, which take advantage of trees stressed by a lack of water.

Western Washington, including the Puget Sound, will have a higher risk of fires; much of the risk in Eastern Washington remains average. March 2019 produced 51 fires alone, many of them in Cowlitz and Lewis counties.

The DNR is asking the state Legislature for $55 million for wildfire response and forest health management which would nearly double the amount of full-time firefighters.

Here are some interesting facts about wildfires to keep in mind;

• 90% of all wildfires are started by humans
• “Crown fires” are spread by wind moving quickly across the tops of trees
• Weather conditions can directly contribute to the occurrence of wildfires through lightning strikes or indirectly by an extended dry spell or drought
• An average of 1.2 million acres of US woodland burn every year
• A large wildfire — or conflagration — is capable of modifying the local weather conditions