A year ago, the Eagle Creek Fire was spreading quickly through the Columbia River Gorge. The fire ravaged many popular hiking trails, burning footbridges, toppling trees and creating hazardous landslides.Read More
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
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
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
For people living in the “wildland-urban interface,” wildfire risk is the new normal, and the risk is increasing as more people move into places where cul-de-sac meets forest or sagebrush. Read More
Fires across the region have blanketed the Northwest in smoke. Blazes in California and British Columbia are also adding to the thick, reddish-gray haze. Read More
Weather predictions across the West are calling for excessive heat and more dry weather this week. That forecast is anything but good news in the Northwest, where significant risk of wildfire continues to increase.Read More
A variety of forest experts say that one of the best ways to reduce the threat of these mega-blazes is to use fire itself. They say we need to increase the pace of prescribed fire and let some wildfires continue to burn when it’s safe to do so. Of course, there’s not nearly as much political support for letting fires burn as there is for putting fires out.Read More
Fire officials say this year is on par with 2014 and 2015 – two of the worst seasons on record in the Northwest. Things are ramping up nearly a month earlier than previous years, and resources are stretched thin. Read More
The West is in the midst of another intense fire season. Fires in California and Oregon have claimed lives and homes and burned up farmland. As part of EarthFix’s ongoing series on wildfire, reporter Tony Schick spoke with interim Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen about what her agency is doing to reform fire management and reverse the fire problem.Read More
The Substation Fire east of The Dalles has killed one person and burned more than 70,000 acres on a mix of Bureau of Land Management and private land. The fire is estimated to be 92 percent contained as of Monday morning. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Here’s what we know about it and how wildland fire investigations occur.Read More
Three major wildfires are burning in central Washington near the Columbia River in Kittitas and Grant counties. And the fires could make getting to a big three-day Phish concert at the Gorge Amphitheater more difficult.Read More
The U.S. Forest Service and others have been saying for decades that we need to allow more wildfire on the landscape. But so far, we haven't practiced what we preach.Read More
From Bend, Oregon, to Ellensburg, Washington, there is a fire weather watch Friday for hot temperatures, low humidity and breezy weather.Read More
A fast-moving fire in sagebrush closed Interstate 90 between Ellensburg and Vantage in Central Washington. The Washington State DOT and State Patrol say an estimated time to reopen I-90 is noon today, July 10.Read More
A large wildfire is burning outside of Naches, in central Washington. It started Sunday afternoon, and is called the Conrad fire. It’s currently estimated at more than 5,000 acres and about 20 percent contained.Read More
As at least half a dozen fires in Colorado force hundreds to evacuate, and have closed a national forest, some residents say they're shocked at how quickly the fire has spread. The speed of wildfires is actually something Colorado ecologists have been studying, and they say history may provide clues on how to slow it down.Read More
“The perception for a long time has been that high-biomass forests will burn more severely,” said Harold Zald, forestry researcher at Humboldt State University in Northern California.Read More
Wildfire smoke can be annoying. It makes your eyes water and your nose run. But for some people with certain medical conditions, wildfire smoke can be especially unhealthy — and sometimes deadly. That’s why experts say people need to prepare before fires start. One big way to help: get an air filtration system.Read More
The new person in charge of regional firefighters at the U.S. Forest Service has called for an increase in prescribed fire and a change in attitude about wildfires.Read More
It may still be wet and muddy out there, but it’s also the time of year when wildland firefighters start to gear up for hot, dry weather and wildfires. This year, the Washington Legislature approved $1.7 million in preventative fire management money (different from fire fighting) for the upcoming season. Fire managers are also waiting to see how much, if any, federal Read More
Exasperated members of Congress say they came close last week to ending the longtime stalemate over legislation aimed at reducing the threat of catastrophic wildfires.Read More
In January 2018, around 100 homes were destroyed by mudslides in Montecito, California. The same conditions that brought that destruction could exist here in the Northwest – after all, we’ve had the same kinds of wildfires that California saw in December.Read More
The intense fire season of 2017 led to calls for more "treatment" of federal forests to remove excess fuel that can make for bigger, hotter wildfires. But while there's broad bipartisan agreement that more needs to be done to promote forest health, the opposing sides can have very different pictures of what that looks like on the ground.Read More
The U.S. Forest Service gave an update on the conditions of Columbia River Gorge trails recently, indicating that some of the most damaged trails “may take several years to reopen.” Forest Service employees and volunteers have been working since the fall to assess damage from the Eagle Creek Fire to more than 20 miles of trails. Read More
A new study estimates smoke from wildfires contributes to 25,000 deaths per year around the world. CREDIT: INCIWEB Listen The wildfires that burned through the Northwest this past summer […]Read More
The Thomas Fire has claimed more than 242,000 acres and over 700 homes. Officials say it won't be contained until January.Read More
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife technician Claire Satterwhite holds a pygmy rabbit. Photo credit: USFWS – Pacific Region Listen As wildfires rage across the Pacific Northwest, more than […]Read More
A fire fighter burns out fuel to create a containment line. Burning fuel that fires could use to spread is one of several methods to create a fire line, including […]Read More
