WACD Reading List

WASHINGTON, March 10, 2022 – The Departments of Agriculture, the Interior and Homeland Security through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are now accepting applications for members to the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission.

Even previously unaffected countries likely to see uncontrollable blazes, says study, which calls for shift to spending on prevention

They found that ignitions on Forest Service lands accounted for fewer than 25% of the most destructive wildfires

A U.S. Department of Agriculture announcement on Jan. 18 adds nearly $3 billion more to the nation's forest restoration efforts and fire reduction

On Aug. 24, 2020, 68% of the western United States experienced extreme levels of air pollution caused by wildfire smoke and rising heat

The effort will go toward rehabilitating site of 2020 Indian Creek Fire that destroyed more than 48,000 acres

New atmospheric research has found melting sea ice in the Arctic increases the risks for wildfires on the West Coast.

Peter Polson’s feet crunch as he walks across a meadow on his property. This time last year, his boots wouldn’t have made that noise. Now, the meadow is blackened after the Cedar Creek fire swept through his land just west of downtown Winthrop.

With cooler temperatures and more moisture in the air, preparations for next year’s wildfires have begun, and this means planned fires. Both the Roslyn fire department and the Colville National Forest began pile burns last week.

The company said its primary use will be by industrial customers such as utility companies and railroads, but can also be used at residential and commercial properties.

Google Maps is making it easier to find the latest information about wildfires as part of a push to ensure the immensely popular app is more useful during emergencies.

If you had to rebuild your town, where would you begin? It’s a question that residents of Malden, Wash. have asked for months. One year later, this town’s struggle to rise from wildfire ashes continues.

Firefighters are hoping the cooler weather in the forecast will help them gain more containment on the Schneider Springs Fire. The fire is now at 19% containment.

Ian Rickert, acting fire management specialist with the Bureau of Land Management Oregon-Washington State office and the United States Department of Agriculture/Forest Service Pacific Northwest Region office said in a late August report that there are still areas of Washington and Oregon that still have a considerable distance from being in the clear as high temperatures and low humidity continues to affect those regions.

Thousands of wildfires ignite in the U.S. each year, and each one requires firefighters to make quick decisions, often in difficult conditions like high winds and lightning. Crews and managers must determine when to bring in aircraft, what time of day is best to battle flames, whether to evacuate residents and even if certain fires should be extinguished at all.

OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Washington State Department of Natural Resources said fires that started over Labor Day weekend accounted for more than 70% of all acres burned in the state in 2020. The fires ravaged the town of Malden and burned 283 homes and more than 600,000 acres across Washington. Smoke from the wildfires temporarily gave Western Washington the worst air quality in the world. To avoid a repeat of last year, Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz is asking for the public’s help to prevent wildfires over the holiday weekend.

As wildfires have burned throughout the Northwest this summer, some forest stands have fared better than others. Managers say that’s thanks, in part, to thinning and prescribed burns, which have made the stands more resilient in the face of wildfire. “What we’re trying to do is get our stands into the structure of what they used to be,” said Pat Ryan, Northeast region state lands assistant manager with the Washington Department of Natural Resources, referring to an era when forests were less dense.

The Twenty Five Mile Fire is now burning almost 10,000 acres at Lake Chelan north of Wenatchee. It’s also threatening more than 720 homes with evacuation notices, with many of them at the highest level where people are asked to leave immediately. Ryan Rodruck with the state Natural Resources Department says the weather this weekend could present a challenge to firefighters.

CONCONULLY – The Muckamuck Fire flirted with Conconully and cleared out the town on Sunday, Aug. 15, but flames were kept at bay and, as of Monday morning, were headed toward West Fork Salmon Creek. The blaze is one of more than a dozen burning in Okanogan and Ferry counties.