A month before the Upper Cemetery fire burned 50 acres west of downtown Spokane, fire crews had treated the area by pruning and cutting down trees to reduce a potential wildfire spread.

About 555,000 acres of forests in Washington were damaged by last year’s intense summer heat, foliar diseases and beetles

The Washington DNR Urban and Community Forestry Program is offering grants of up to $40,000 to increase forest health within communities. “We’re looking for applications from local governments, cities, towns, counties, 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations, tribes, special taxing districts like school districts, parks districts, conservation districts and what have you,” said Thompson.

OLYMPIA – The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is implementing temporary burn restrictions on DNR-protected lands in the Northwest Region, the Pacific Cascade Region, and the Northeast Region. For the next week, DNR is asking the public to avoid conducting outdoor debris burns as much as possible. Fire danger is rising in Washington due to dry and warming weather conditions and gusty winds that can spread a wildfire quickly through dry grasses and forests.