Wildfire Archives - Page 3 of 4 - Northwest Public Broadcasting

Wildfire

Wildfire Lessons Teach Counties How To Communicate With Spanish Speakers In Other Disasters

By Enrique Pérez de la Rosa October 17, 2019

About 20 homes burned in this Pateros neighborhood, which included the mayor at the time, Libby Harrison, and her mom’s home behind her. The community church behind it survived, but the pastor’s home next door burned. CREDIT: Scott A. Leadingham

Communication is key in emergencies. That’s especially true when the people you’re working to protect don’t speak English. That’s why Washington emergency management offices are working on their language skills — whether for a fire, earthquake or any emergency.Read More

Okanogan County Firefighter Dies From Injuries Sustained During Labor Day Weekend Fire

By Courtney Flatt October 3, 2019

Christian Johnson, 55, suffered burns over 60 percent of his body. His lungs were also burned. The veteran firefighter was helping fight a small brush Sept. 1 fire near Okanogan. Courtesy Amy Freel/GoFundMe

Christian Johnson, 55, had been flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle after suffering burns over more than half of his body fighting the Spring Coulee Fire on Sept. 1. Read More

In Central Washington, Forest Equipment Chews Through Fuel To Reduce Threat Of ‘The Next Paradise’

By Courtney Flatt October 3, 2019

Land managers are using a masticator to help thin a dense forest outside Cle Elum, Washington. The masticator chews up the forest fuels with spinning metal teeth. It takes out whole trees at a time. CREDIT: Courtney Flatt/NWPB

Connecting different projects – like these large-scale fuels management ones – with efforts by homeowners down below helps make the landscape more resilient. It’s part of a larger effort to help central Washington avoid the fate of towns like Paradise, California, which was devastated by the Camp Fire in 2018. Read More

‘It’s A Long Road’: Doctors Share Update Of Still-Critical Okanogan County Firefighter

By Courtney Flatt September 16, 2019

Christian Johnson was severely burned while helping put out a Labor Day weekend brush is still in critical condition. Doctors said the recovery process will take several months.Read More

Washington Ranchers Push To Create Their Own Fire Fighting Teams In ‘No Man’s Lands’

By Courtney Flatt September 9, 2019

Central Washington rancher Molly Linville would like ranchers to be able to fight fires on their own property in the state. She hopes the state will allow ranchers to form rangeland fire protection associations in areas where no agency is assigned to respond to wildland fires. CREDIT: Courtney Flatt/NWPB

There are no agencies assigned to fight fires on certain stretches of Washington rangeland. Ranchers want to form their own firefighting teams – something already happening in Oregon and Idaho.Read More

Columbia River Gorge Inches Closer To Recovery, 2 Years After Eagle Creek Fire

By NWPB News September 4, 2019

Scene from the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire in Columbia River Gorge

Labor Day weekend marked the second anniversary of the start of the Eagle Creek Fire, which burned almost 50,000 acres of forest land in the Columbia River Gorge.Read More

Okanogan County Firefighter Severely Injured, Remains In Coma At Seattle Hospital

By Courtney Flatt September 3, 2019

County and state firefighters responded quickly to the Spring Coulee Fire on Sunday, Sept. 1, in Okanogan County, where Christian Johnson was severely injured. He was flown to Seattle's Harborview Medical Center. Courtesy of Okanogan County Emergency Managment aerial video

A Washington firefighter was badly burned over the Labor Day weekend while fighting a small brush fire in Okanogan County. He’s currently in a medically induced coma at a Seattle hospital.Read More

Careful With Those Birthday Candles, Smokey: Beloved Wildfire-Prevention Bear Turns 75

By NPR News August 10, 2019

Smokey the bear cub is flown from Santa Fe, N.M., to his new home at the Washington National Zoo by New Mexico's Assistant State Game Warden Homer C. Pickens in 1950. The little bear was rescued from a forest fire and named Smokey after the fire prevention symbol of the U.S. Forest Service, which launched in 1944. FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The longest-running public service campaign is tied to a reduction in wildfires, but in some ways Smokey's message may have worked too well. Here's how he's changed. Read More

Mild Northwest Fire Season Could Blow Up In Late Summer As Fuels Dry Out

By Anna King August 6, 2019

The Williams Flats Fire started from a lightning strike Aug. 2, 2019 near Keller, Washington, on the reservation of the Colville Confederated Tribes. CREDIT: INCIWEB

The fire season so far has been relatively mild as far as large fires and region-wide smoke inundation go. But that could change in late summer and early fall, according to a recent federal report from the National Interagency Fire Center.Read More

‘A Total Sense Of Belonging’: Northwest Tribes Lament Fire On Rattlesnake Mountain

By Anna King August 1, 2019

The Cold Creek Fire burned nearly 42,000 acres of sagebrush and grass land near Hanford in July -- including on Rattlesnake Mountain.

The fire that engulfed Notre Dame cathedral shocked the world earlier this year. And a wildfire in July on Rattlesnake Mountain in southeast Washington similarly shocked Northwest tribes.Read More

Hey, That’s My Grass! Goats Chomp Fire Fuels Around Previously Burned Wenatchee Neighborhood

By Courtney Flatt July 28, 2019

These goats from a herding operation based in Ephrata were in Wenatchee in July to clean out fire fuels near Broadview neighborhood that burned in the 2015 Sleepy Hollow fire. CREDIT: COURTNEY FLATT/NWPB

A fire district around Wenatchee has come up with a new way to make wildland fires less severe. Chelan County Fire District 1 is ditching the hand tools and machinery that firefighters traditionally use to thin overgrown brush. Instead, they’re turning to a more natural approach to thin out fuels around the Broadview neighborhood that burned in the 2015 Sleepy Hollow fire.Read More

Firefighters Address Central And Eastern Washington Fires After Lightning Storms

By Anna King July 25, 2019

Smoke seen from a small fire burning in brush and wheat near Washtucna, Washington on Thursday, July 25, 2019. CREDIT: ANNA KING/N3

It’s been a relatively quiet summer so far for Northwest wildland firefighters. But after a couple days of lightning storms in eastern and central Washington, paired with dry and windy conditions, more fires are starting to flare up. Read More

Cold Creek Fire Near Hanford Grows Big, Threatens Sensitive Ecological And Cultural Areas

By Anna King July 19, 2019

The Cold Creek Fire burning July 18 on the Hanford Reach National Monument had grown to an estimated 15,000 acres by Friday, July 19. CREDIT: Franklin County Fire District 13

A wildfire continued burning today near the Hanford Nuclear Site. The Cold Creek Fire is burning sensitive, federally protected habitat. As of Friday afternoon it was estimated at about 18,000 acres and 10 percent containment.Read More

Pateros And North Central Washington Continue Rebuilding 5 Years After Carlton Complex Fire

By Courtney Flatt July 18, 2019

Libby Harrison, who at the time was the mayor of Pateros, and her husband are rebuilding their home, which burned in the 2014 Carlton Complex. They’re doing most of the work themselves and hope to move back in, in a few months. CREDIT: Courtney Flatt/NWPB

Five years later, the Carlton Complex is still the single largest fire in Washington state’s history. By the end of summer, the Okanogan Long Term Recovery Group will have rebuilt 39 homes. The group’s contractors are putting the finishing touches on the final two homes now. They’ve held a ribbon cutting at nearly each spot.Read More

Federal Agencies Boost Efforts To Address Wildland Firefighter Suicides

By NWPB News July 15, 2019

Bill Arsenault of the Idaho Falls Fire Department looks at memorial stones at the Wildland Firefighters Monument at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. Federal officials at the NIFC are bolstering mental health resources for wildland firefighters following an apparent increase in suicides. CREDIT: KEITH RIDLER/AP

No figures on wildland firefighter suicides are available because federal agencies often track only fatalities that occur during work hours, and families don’t always release a cause of death. But lang management agencies are concerned about an increasing number of suicides, and seeking to address ways to help.Read More

Central Washington Fire District Will Use Goats To Reduce Fire Risk Around Wenatchee

By Courtney Flatt June 19, 2019

File photo. Briana Murphy's goats can clear 150 pounds of foliage a day. CREDIT: Jule Gilfillan/OPB

Four years ago, the Sleepy Hollow Fire burned to the edge of Wenatchee. Flames rushed through, consuming brush and cheatgrass and quickly destroying 28 homes and three businesses. Now, with the help of a federal grant, firefighters are getting rid of some of those grasses to better protect homes.Read More

Western Forest Fires Release Less Carbon Than Thought, Study Shows

By NWPB News June 7, 2019

An air tanker makes a retardant drop on the South Umpqua Complex fires. CREDIT: U.S. FOREST SERVICE

The amount of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere from forest fires in the U.S. West is being greatly overestimated, possibly leading to poor land management decisions, researchers at the University of Idaho said.Read More

1 Billion Acres At Risk For Catastrophic Wildfires, U.S. Forest Service Warns

By NPR News June 5, 2019

Crews tend to a prescribed fire in April 2016 northeast of Silver City, N.M. In line with a controversial Trump administration executive order pushing for "active forest management," the U.S. Forest Service is aiming to perform thinning, brush clearing, prescribed burns and other treatments on 3.5 million of its 80 million acres this year. CREDIT: NATIONAL FOREST/AP

The chief of the U.S. Forest Service is warning that a billion acres of land across America are at risk of catastrophic wildfires like last fall's deadly Camp Fire that destroyed most of Paradise, Calif.Read More

Firefighters Tackle Central Washington Fire Near Wanapum Dam, Expecting Growth Overnight

By Anna King June 4, 2019

The 243 Fire, named for the state highway near which it started, burned near Mattawa Tuesday, June 4, 2019. CREDIT: ANNA KING/N3

Firefighters continued to attack a growing fire today in Grant County. It’s burning near the Wanapum Dam between the Columbia River and Royal City. Afternoon estimates had the so-called 2-4-3 Fire at nearly 5,000 acres, with that number expected to rise in windy conditions this afternoon and overnight.Read More

Not Enough Is Known About Smoke’s Effect On Wildland Firefighters’ Health

By Jes Burns May 30, 2019

A line of wildland firefighters marches through the woods during the Yellowstone fires of 1988. The massive complex of fires, which burned more than 790,000 acres, was a transformative moment in the country's view of wildfire. CREDIT: NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

Over the past few years, Northwest communities have been getting better acquainted with wildfire smoke. But even in the most affected places, people can get some relief by limiting time outside and using air filters and inexpensive masks. These aren’t options for wildland firefighters. Read More

Big Spring Growth Could Make For Big Fire Season At Hanford And Across The West

By Anna King May 29, 2019

Hanford fire crews burn built-up brush along a roadway in preparation for a more-challenging-than-usual fire season.

At the Hanford Nuclear Site in southeastern Washington, and across the West, winter’s deep snow and a cool spring have produced lots of brush and grass. That’s a problem for the coming fire season. Read More

Northwest Fire Danger Increases Early In Season As Temperatures Rise Above Normal

By Doug Nadvornick May 11, 2019

Information on public fire danger signs comes from the Nation Fire Danger Rating System, which is being updated for the first time in more than four decades. CREDIT: JACOB FRANK/NPS

Washington state lands officials are warning people working and playing outdoors to be mindful of higher wildfire danger. They've elevated the wildfire danger status in most of eastern and central Washington from low to moderate.Read More

Snow Melts, Anxiety Rises: Wildfire Season Is Here

By Ashley Ahearn May 1, 2019

Elise Walker poses for a portrait with her Great Pyrenees, Mina, on Monday, April 22, 2019, at her home on Old Highway 97 in Okanogan. Walker has three scanners in her home playing at all times to monitor fire calls. CREDIT:KUOW PHOTO/MEGAN FARMER

As wildfires become more frequent and intense, the disappearance of snow now ushers in a season of higher anxiety for those who have experienced the destruction of wildfire. And this spring feels particularly ominous, with water levels in ponds and lakes already exposing bathtub rings of pale earth that wouldn’t normally be visible until the end of the dry summer months.Read More

‘Good Fire’ Season: How Land Managers Select Areas For Prescribed Burns

By Courtney Flatt April 15, 2019

A member of the Wolf Creek Hotshots uses a drip torch to ignite the forest floor during a prescribed burn near Sisters, Oregon. CREDIT: JES BURNS

Land managers are using prescribed burns -- also called "good fire" -- and thinning to restore forests and reduce the extra wood, sticks and needles that fuel megafires. Different land managers look for certain things when they’re selecting where prescribed fires will work best.Read More

New Technology Will Help Northwest Forest Managers Assess Wildfire Danger

By Jes Burns April 11, 2019

A tool forest managers use to determine the level of fire danger is getting its first update in more than 40 years. The National Fire Danger Rating System uses information like temperature, humidity and wind to let firefighters know how wildfire will behave.Read More

‘Reimagining Paradise’ — Making Plans To Rebuild A Town Destroyed By Wildfire

By NPR News March 7, 2019

Cal Poly architecture students focused on reimagining and rebuilding Paradise, Calif., by presenting models, renderings and updated concepts during a community forum in Chico, Calif. CREDIT: JASON HALLEY/CSU CHICO

Last fall's deadly Camp Fire has brought renewed questions about whether towns in high-risk areas like Paradise, Calif., should even be rebuilt.Read More

Washington May Rope In Ranchers To Help With Wildfires — As Oregon And Idaho Already Do

By Tom Banse January 18, 2019

A water tender for fighting wildfires is parked next to rancher Charlie Lyon’s barn near Mountain Home, Idaho. CREDIT: JESSICA ROBINSON/N3

Washington may soon copy a rural wildfire fighting strategy that Oregon, Idaho and Nevada already employ: letting private ranchers attack range fires before the blazes get big.Read More

Shutdown Cancels Federally Funded Wildfire Training As Northwest States Scramble To Prepare For Season

By Emily Schwing January 15, 2019

Dillon Sanders looks on as a collection of wildland firefighters train for an upcoming season. Sanders is the owner of Inbound LLC in Oakridge, Oregon, which runs 20-person hand crews and 13 engines for fire suppression. CREDIT: TONY SCHICK

From aviation contracts to deals with vendors and even seasonal hiring, the partial federal government shutdown is cutting into planning and preparation for the 2019 wildfire season in the Northwest. Read More

Crisis Builds In Chico In Aftermath Of Camp Fire That Devastated Paradise And Butte County

By NPR News January 14, 2019

After the November 2018 Camp Fire, thousands of people whose homes were destroyed were forced to seek refuge in nearby Chico, Calif. Some 700 people, some in their RVs, are still living at a Red Cross shelter at the Chico fairgrounds. The shelter is expected to close at the end of January. Kirk Siegler/NPR

More than two months after the Camp Fire, the small city of Chico, Calif. is struggling to handle an influx of an estimated 20,000 new people from neighboring Paradise. Read More

Shutdown Hampers Wildfire Preparedness And Training In The West And Across The Country

By NPR News January 12, 2019

Firefighters and forest managers are losing valuable time to prepare for the upcoming wildland fire season as the partial government shutdown continues.Read More

Serving Time, Dodging Tumbling Boulders, And Fighting Wildfires For $2 A Day

By NPR News November 18, 2018

Inmate firefighters battle a California wildfire in July. Qualified inmates can volunteer to be trained in firefighting; in exchange, they are paid $2 a day and an extra $1 per hour when fighting fires. The inmate firefighters also receive sentence reductions. CREDIT: Noah Berger/AFP/Getty Images

As flames consume parts of California, an unexpected group of firefighters has put their lives at risk to protect communities: prison inmates. For $2 per day — and another $1 an hour when battling fires — qualified inmates can volunteer to help authorities combat fires.Read More

A Personal And Harrowing Account Of How The Camp Fire Devastated Paradise

By NWPB News November 14, 2018

The burned remains of Paradise Elementary School is seen Friday, in Paradise, Calif. Authorities say a wildfire has all but destroyed the Northern California town. CREDIT: Rich Pedroncelli/AP

The Camp Fire tore through Paradise, Calif., the morning of Nov. 8, 2018. Paul Weingartner, a nurse at the Adventist Health Feather River hospital in Paradise, recounts how it unfolded, and how he narrowly escaped, to return to the hospital and treat patients.Read More

Paradise Lost: Northern California Town Destroyed By Fire, At Least 29 Dead, 6,000+ Structures Burned

By NPR News November 10, 2018

A home burns as the November 2018 Camp Fire moved through Paradise, Calif. Fueled by high winds and low humidity, the rapidly spreading fire killed 85 people and burned nearly 19,000 building in Butte County, making it the state’s deadliest and most destructive fire in modern times. CREDIT: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The entire town of 27,000 people was evacuated in front of the wildfire in Northern California. The fire is the latest in a string of disastrous wildfires to hit the state in the past year.Read More

‘Historic’ Wildfire Funding Request Goes To Washington Legislature

By Emily Schwing October 10, 2018

Firefighters from a Washington state Department of Natural Resources crew took this photo of the Boylston Fire Thursday, July 19, 2018.

Washington Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz is asking the state legislature to nearly double funding to manage and respond to wildfire.Read More

Why Many Northwest Animals And Plants Need Wildfire

By NWPB News October 8, 2018

Not all wildfire is a force of destruction. Many of our favorite Northwest plants and animals have evolved to depend on it.Read More

Agencies Downgrade Preparedness And Burn Bans, But Northwest Wildfire Risk Persists

By Emily Schwing October 3, 2018

Washington fire managers responded to nearly 70 new fire starts August 11, 2018, including the Grass Valley Fire that threatened the Grand Coulee Dam area and forced hundreds of evacuations. CREDIT: INCIWEB

State and federal agencies throughout the Northwest are starting to lift burn restrictions on some lands. The Wildfire Preparedness level for the region was downgraded to its lowest stage -- Level 1 -- this week. But the region is below normal for precipitation and has been so for the past two months. Read More

For Many In The West, Year-Round Fire Season Means Always Living ‘Evacuation Ready’

By NPR News September 25, 2018

Rod Thompson lives in Ojai, Calif., where the Thomas Fire last December charred 440 square miles. CREDIT: STEPHANIE O'NEILL FOR NPR

More people are living in places that are prone to wildfires. That means during fire season, they live with the very real possibility of having to evacuate on very short notice.Read More

Study: Fire-Filled Future Could Lead To More Smoke-Related Deaths

By NWPB News September 14, 2018

Pedestrians walk off the Bridge of the Gods, which spans the Columbia River between Washington and Oregon, as smoke from the Eagle Creek Fire obscures the Oregon hills in the background near Stevenson, Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017. CREDIT: RANDY L. RASMUSSUN/AP

Deaths related to air pollution from wildfires could double by the end of the century, according to newly published research into the links between climate change, wildfires and human health.Read More

Fighting Wildfire Is Risky. But It’s Become Riskier Than It Needs To Be

By Tony Schick September 11, 2018

Federal and state agencies have come to realize fires should not be fought at all costs and, in fact, many should not be fought at all. Excluding natural fire led to forests burning in bigger, more destructive ways. Each year, hazardous fuels accumulate faster than we can reduce them through selective logging and burning.Read More

No, Hunters Did Not Open Fire On Australian Firefighters In Washington Near White Pass

By Emily Schwing September 11, 2018

The Miriam Fire has been burning around Washington's White Pass since late July 2018. The Yakima County Sheriff's Office says Australian firefighters were not intentionally targeted and shot at by hunters in the area. CREDIT: JUSTIN GELB/INCIWEB

An Australian newspaper is reporting that hunters shot at two firefighters from down under while they were battling the Miriam Fire near White Pass, Washington. But law enforcement has debunked the claim. Read More

Will More Logging Save Western Forests From Wildfires?

By NPR News August 29, 2018

The 2018 Carr Fire destroyed more than a thousand homes, largely on the western edge of Redding, Calif. CREDIT: KIRK SIEGLER/NPR

The Trump Administration has called for more logging of western forests to reduce wildfire risks. But people on the ground in the west say the solution is thinning and forest restoration, not logging.Read More

As Wildfires Burn, Smoke Chokes Out Northwest Farmworkers And Delays Some Crops

By Anna King August 29, 2018

Workers in dust masks wash fresh red bell peppers in smoky conditions outside of Eltopia, Wash. Even with the masks, the smoke is still causing tight chests, itchy eyes and dry throats. CREDIT: ANNA KING/N3

Smoke from wildfires is blanketing much of the West. That's ruining some crops and may be stunting others. And it's making it difficult or unsafe for laborers to pick the harvest.Read More

As Wildfire Seasons Worsen, Scientists Point To Summer Precipitation As Major Driving Factor

By Emily Schwing August 20, 2018

Wildfire activity in the American West is likely to get worse in coming years. A new study out in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences points to the lack of precipitation in the summer as the major driving factor when it comes to increasing fire severity.Read More

Smoke Makes Washington Farmworkers Cover Up, But No Regulations Require Provided Masks

By Esmy Jimenez August 17, 2018

Smoky skies in Central Washington this week have made it hard to see distant mountains, and harder for some farmworkers to breathe clean air. CREDIT: ESMY JIMENEZ/NWPB

You’ve probably seen and felt it this week: a blanket of grey haze over large parts of the region. Smoke from wildfires in Washington, Oregon, British Columbia and California has led to poor air quality, causing health experts to caution: minimize your exposure. So how do people who work outdoors fare? Read More

How To Prepare Your Home For Wildfire

By NWPB News August 17, 2018

A burned cabin that was destroyed in Washington’s 2014 Carlton Complex wildfire. Creative Commons licensed by Adam Cohn

The U.S. has more than 46 million homes in this wildfire danger zone and more people moving in right when climate change is making for longer, hotter and drier wildfire seasons. Here are a few steps you can take to protect your home from wildfire.Read More