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Editorial: State must prepare for more big fires

Sun., Nov. 1, 2015

The state must make more robust preparations for wildfires like those that have torched 1.5 million acres over the past two years, mostly in Central and Eastern Washington.

The climate has changed, and fires have become more frequent, intense and unpredictable. In August, three young firefighters died near Twisp. Many homes were lost. Livestock and wildlife perished.

Timber, a critical financial asset for the tribes, was left to burn as firefighters responded to communities that were in immediate danger. There were so many large fires that crews from as far away as Australia and New Zealand were flown in. But in many local districts, calls for help went unanswered.

Congress is being approached for more funding to fight and prevent fires on federal lands, but the state Department of Natural Resources and local districts also need assistance to contend with more protracted and potent wildfire seasons.

State and federal firefighting efforts cost $300 million this year, with the state picking up $160 million.

Washington Public Lands Commissioner Peter Goldmark will ask the 2016 Legislature for $130 million to cover this year’s costs, and $24 million to better prepare for future fires. Lawmakers should listen.

Included in the request will be $7 million to train more firefighters, $6 million for forest thinning and $6 million for local fire districts so they can contain fires before the flames run wild.

In rural communities, fire districts are partly staffed with volunteers. They often lack basic equipment, such as bulldozers. This year, they were overwhelmed and on their own because state and federal resources were concentrated on the larger fires. In the Carpenter Road Fire around Fruitland, the crew chief had to make horrific choices — which homes would be saved and which homes would burn.

Goldmark told the editorial board that the unpredictability of wildfires hit home in Wenatchee, when embers from a subdivision blaze drifted several miles, and started fires at the fruit warehouses. The Rutter Canyon fire at Riverside State Park showed how fire can leave the woods and threaten neighborhoods.

Adding to this unnerving uncertainty is the fact that two-thirds of wildfires are caused by people. Firefighters can prepare as they track lightning-packed storms, but they can’t account for careless, random human activity.

Local governments should lend a hand by improving rural roads so that emergency vehicles can gain easy access. They should also tighten restrictions on where people can build, and the materials used. Homeowners can help by clearing brush to establishing a defensible perimeters.

There’s a new reality in West, with a fire season that stretches from May to October. Half of Okanogan County has burned in the past dozen years. Unhealthy smoke drifted into Spokane and Seattle this past summer.

Washington was not prepared for the 2014 or 2015 fire seasons. The Legislature can help fix that by giving DNR and local fire districts more tools and training.

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