Fires

Despite dry conditions, wildfires elsewhere, fire season average in Thurston County

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THURSTON COUNTY –– As wildfires ravage California and certain parts of Washington state — prompting Gov. Jay Inslee to issue a state of emergency through the end of September — Thurston County and its sometimes sprawling brush have escaped major incidents despite dry, warm conditions.

 West Thurston Regional Fire Authority, which covers a large swath of the county and has under its control multiple fire stations, reports responding to 17 fires related to grass, brush or forest land, compared to 35 incidents the same time last year.

The lower numbers don’t necessarily mean the conditions aren’t primed for a serious fire situation, said West Thurston Chief Russ Kaleiwahea, who noted summers have tended toward being hotter and drier lately.

“And it just sets for a greater risk to the public safety overall,” he said.

Kaleiwahea theorized the COVID-19 pandemic may have something to do with a dip in brush fires, given restrictions on public land use to varying degrees have been in place throughout the summer. That would provide fewer opportunities for accidental man-caused brush fires.

That being said, the department has still responded to those 17 fires, many along Interstate 5 and within the last 30 to 45 days, said Kaleiwahea. Leaders in the municipal fire districts have said similar things, although their coverage areas obviously have less acreage covered in dry brush and grass. Fire chiefs still said their wildland-urban interface is a concern this time of year, as wildland gives way to cityscape.

“It’s concerning for us when the temperatures get high, and for us here in the urban areas, we’re primarily concerned with the wildland-urban interface,” said Tumwater Fire Chief Brian Hurley.

Hurley said their biggest fire this year was off of Interstate 5 just south of Trosper Road. It burned approximately 50-by-200 feet before being extinguished.

“Our season this year hasn’t been particularly bad,” he added.

Battalion Chief Ryan Fox with Lacey’s fire district said something similar, noting that conditions are dry but he hasn’t seen anything out of the ordinary. 

“In this season, we always have wildland incidents, but we haven’t seen anything greater than anything we’d typically see, or anything out of the norm,” he said.

Hurley noted that more firefighters in his district will seek wildland fire certification — special training on how to extinguish wildfires. The training for the certification, offered through the state, consists of some online courses, followed by a couple days of running drills. Tumwater frequently lends mutual aid to rural districts — like East Thurston Regional Fire Authority — and the training better equips first responders in urban areas to more effectively offer aid to rural districts.

The Department of Natural Resources indicated there were seven active wildfires in Washington State as of Thursday. The nearest one to Olympia was in Snoqualmie National Forest.

Inslee issued a statewide emergency proclamation on Aug. 19, prompted by fires in the Olympic Peninsula, eastern and central regions of the state.

“Due to hot, dry conditions and lighting storms, we have fires burning across Washington and existing firefighting resources are at capacity," said Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz in a statement. 

Inslee, in a statement from his office, noted the novel challenge of COVID-19 compounds the difficulty of battling fires. 

"Wildfires are threatening the safety and livelihoods of Washingtonians all across the state," Inslee said. "And the COVID-19 pandemic has put additional strain on our resources, as some of our usual support is further limited due to international movement restrictions."

 Olympia Fire Chief Mark John — who like other fire local fire chiefs said this season is far from record-breaking — said the COVID-19 pandemic has provided a challenge thus far this season. Firefighters have been screened coming and going from the station, and must wear masks under certain situations — something that can be difficult to do given how physically exerting the job can often be.

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