The Tacoma City Council adopted its next two-year budget, after months of working with city staff to balance for a predicted $24 million structural deficit. Read More
A controversial wind farm that was set to be the largest in Washington has been slashed nearly in half. (Credit: John McIntyre, / Flickr Creative Commons) Listen (Runtime 0:57) Read […]Read More
Workers remove trees impacted by the Gray Fire near Interstate 90. (Courtesy: Washington State Department of Transportation) Read By: Rebecca White / Spokane Public Radio Update: Interstate 90 has re-opened. Washington […]Read More
Prineville Hotshots construct handline along the edge of the Newell Road Fire in south-central Washington. (Credit: Newell Fire Information, Facebook) Read As new, large fires have started in Oregon and […]Read More
Severe drought has turned forests and grasslands into dry fuels, ready to ignite from a careless camper or a lightning strike. More people are building in areas bordering wildlands, expanding the so-called wildland-urban interface, an area where wildfires impact people the most. Invasive, highly flammable vegetation is spreading uncontrolled across the West.Read More
U.S. officials said Thursday they will try to stamp out wildfires as quickly as possible this year as severe drought tightens its grip across the West and sets the stage for another destructive summer of blazes.Read More
As the company weighs its options, two Washington state legislators sent a letter Tuesday to U.S. Congress members in Western states, urging them to find a solution to continue the SuperTanker’s operations, which they described as the “biggest and one of the best weapons in battling the catastrophic fires.”Read More
Crews have fought fire with fire to help secure the containment lines. One method you may not have heard of uses ping pong balls and helicopters. They’re officially called PSDs, or plastic spherical devices.Read More
For some people, there are advantages to living in an unprotected area. For one, they don’t have to pay taxes into a fire district or timber taxes to the state. Residents in Moses Coulee area of Douglas County want to act as an initial attack team for their small area, helping douse the flames until official fire crews arrive.Read More
As wildfire season heats up, Washington fire managers are working out new ways for incarcerated people to help on the fire lines and stay safe during the coronavirus pandemic. Correctional crews have helped put out fires and work in fire camp kitchens for decades. And things are a little different this year.Read More
More than 500 firefighters and EMTs in the Pacific Northwest have been temporarily quarantined after suspected exposure to the coronavirus over the past two months. The Washington State Council of Fire Fighters and the Oregon Fire Service Coronavirus Response Team have been monitoring the number of first responders taken out of service. Read More
This year, fire camp could be as dangerous as the wildfires, and top Western managers are deep in planning how to make fire camps COVID-19 ready for fire crews. Hilary Franz is Washington’s commissioner of public lands. She says state, federal, tribal and local officials are trying to make fighting wildfires safe during a pandemic. Read More
Each year, state, federal and local officials train around 1,000 firefighters. Trainings start in April and last through May. Now, that's all on hold.Read More
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
When a wildfire starts, whether by lightning or human hand, it is almost always smothered.Read More
Wildfire represents both risk and reward for some small communities in Washington. Walking the line between a "good fire" and a "bad fire" can be tricky.Read More
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
Private companies are essential in fighting the mega-wildfires that yearly burn through the backcountry and encroach on towns. One fire company in the Methow Valley is a family affair.Read More
Wildland firefighters are a tight-knit group. After years of fighting fires together in the remote wilderness and on the edges of suburbia, you get to know a lot of people. And for one fire company in Washington’s Methow Valley, the bond is even stronger.Read More
A view of the Bridge 99 Complex fire along Green Ridge near the Lookout and east of Camp Sherman and the Metolius River. CREDIT STEVE ZIEL / INCIWEB Update […]Read More
