Worst wildfire season in Washington history predicted for this year, official says
PORTLAND, Ore. — This year's fire season is already shaping up to be worse than last year in terms of numbers.
According to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center, last July 31, 23 large fires burned in our region, scorching roughly 40,000 acres.
As of July 31 this year, 50 large fires are burning in Oregon and Washington and the number of acres burned is more than 20 times higher.
No matter what side of the Columbia River burns, fires impact people in both Oregon and Washington.
“We’re already predicting this is going to be the worst wildfire season in Washington state’s history, probably the Pacific Northwest’s history,” said Hilary Franz, Washington Commissioner of Public Lands, in a live interview with KATU News Tuesday afternoon. “We’re seeing on the landscape bone dry conditions and no precipitation on the horizon. We’re seeing the number of fires and conditions which we’ll usually see in late August, early September.”
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She said firefighters are exhausted, with many working 16-plus hours a day and days on end to battle the blazes.
Because of the drought, Franz said the forests are struggling. In eastern Washington alone, she said 2.7 million acres of forest are dying.
“They’re literally tinderboxes. All it takes is one spark,” she said about how easily the forests can catch fire and burn.
Watch the full interview with Franz below: