Wildfires continue to torch the Washington landscape, but well-positioned aircraft and a streamlined communication process helped limit burned land to just more than 300,000 acres this year, according to Washington Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz.
"It has been a very difficult (wildfire season), like many of the ones before," Franz told reporters Friday at an end-of-wildfire-season news conference at Deer Park Airport.
The 308,000 acres burned were more than the 151,000 in 2023 and 174,000 in 2022, but less than the 674,000 in 2021 and 842,000 in 2020, according to data provided by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources.
Franz said firefighters fought more than 1,400 ignitions this year across the state, and for a third year in a row, are on track to keep 95% of fires to less than 10 acres.
The somewhat mild wildfire year and favorable wind patterns translated to Spokane-area residents breathing the healthiest air this past summer since 2016. The Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency said summer air quality met health-based standards, allowing people to breathe healthy air for the first time in eight years.
"Our progress to date is truly a testament of the infrastructure investments we have made year after year and how we are fighting our fires more strategically," said Franz, who is in the final three months of her term, as she is running for Congress.
Franz said getting planes in the air as quickly as possible to attack fires and positioning air resources in every corner of the state have led to quicker containment. When Franz took over as commissioner nearly eight years ago, she said it was difficult to pre-position eight Vietnam War-era helicopters.
This year, the Department of Natural Resources blanketed the state with 44 planes at its disposal, up from 40 last year and 37 the year before. Franz said the department can lease those resources to other states and countries in need, but use them when Washington needs them, something it started doing in 2021.
"That is one of the most significant game changers," she said.
The passage of House Bill 1498, which Franz worked on with local lawmakers, was also groundbreaking, she said.
The bill allows firefighters to call an interagency dispatch center directly and request aircraft, cutting out the need for additional phone calls and saving time during the initial attack phase of a wildfire.
"It's probably the quietest, most significant solution that nobody knows about that has made a difference," Franz said.
Franz said fighting fires from a "proactive state" instead of solely "reactive" has also made a huge difference during her tenure.
She said the state has restored — through prescribed burns, thinning and other methods — more than 800,000 acres of forests in seven years, well ahead of the goal of restoring 1.25 million acres in 20 years on federal, state, tribal and private lands.
Spokane County Fire District 4 Chief Bill Neckels and Spokane Valley Fire Department Deputy Fire Marshal Ken Johnson expressed on Friday the importance of mitigating fire fuels to reduce wildfire risk. Nickels said three hazard fuels mitigation projects are expected to start soon in District 4.
Franz said she hopes people don't become complacent after a few straight "successful" fire seasons. Wildfires remain a significant problem in all parts of the state, she said. Franz predicted catastrophic wildfires will hit more densely populated residential areas in the next decade.
"The area that we have made the least amount of change that needs the most amount of focus is still 90% of our fires are caused by humans," she said. "We have got to do the work that actually raises the level of urgency and importance of this, that people really do their part to be one less spark."
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