As wildfire season winds down, crews around Washington and Oregon perform prescribed fires. Read More
In the past, if a local fire department needed to use air support from the state, crews had to go through multiple agencies before resources would be deployed. But with legislation that passed unanimously last session, they can now call the resources directly.
The legislation — House Bill 1498 — was called a success by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. Read More
Researchers from Idaho and Oregon participated in research to improve the Fire Program Analysis Fire Occurrence Database, or FPA-FOD, which contains historical data on more than two million wildfires in the United States. These improvements might be the key to better predicting wildfires in the Northwest.Read More
Fire crews continue firing wildfires to keep on high alert in the Northwest.Read More
Multiple fires in Latah and Nez Perce counties in Idaho forced the evacuation of Juliaetta, Myrtle, Cherryland, and Arrow areas Thursday night.Read More
Everyone watching fires around Washington this week held their breath as about 600 lightning strikes hit the landscape across the state.
The Washington State Department of Natural Resources, who, alongside agency partners, prepared for those conditions this week by pulling in out-of-state resources and pre-positioning crews. The lightning strikes ignited at least two Read More
Aircraft flying over the Tunnel Five fire in the Columbia River Gorge. (Credit: InciWeb) Listen (Runtime 1:51) Read More than 20 people joined a lawsuit against BNSF Railway related to […]Read More
Investigadores están desarrollando revestimientos especiales para proteger los vinos del noroeste de cualquier sabor a humo.Read More
Four utilities in Washington state received funding from the U.S Department of Energy to strengthen the electrical grid against future wildfires and ensure reliability to customers. That funding comes from the federal Grid Resilience and Innovations Partnerships Program, which is investing in 58 projects across 44 states. Read More
Visible from the smoke they’re emitting, seven fires are burning within the wilderness of Olympic National Park on the Olympic Peninsula. Lightning strikes ignited the fires Aug. 28 and all were burning relatively small until this past weekend, when the Delabarre fire took advantage of hot, dry conditions and took off like a bandit, growing to over 3,500 acres. Read More
Wildfires can be frightening and result in overflowing emotions. Fear, anxiety and even depression can arise before, during and after these natural disasters, but specialists say there are still resources to cope with the trauma that environmental emergencies can cause.Read More
Wildfires pose a threat to the energy sector — both the critical infrastructure that generates energy, like dams and wind turbines, and the infrastructure that delivers electricity to consumers, mainly transmission lines.
The Sourdough Fire in Whatcom County has caused two dams that provide power to Seattle to go offline for stretches of multiple days — the Ross and Read More
Cuando una familia de Tri-Cities viajó a Hawai, esperaba que fueran las vacaciones de su vida. En lugar de eso, se encontraron con las mismas condiciones a las que están acostumbrados: fuertes vientos, mucho humo y desastrosos incendios forestales.Read More
In this Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019, photo released by the U.S. Forest Service flames from the Nethker Fire engulf trees at Payette National Forest near McCall, Idaho. The Northwest has […]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
The Williams Creek Fire burned thousands of acres in the north Idaho wilderness last summer. Fire crews, with the help of heavy rains, eventually put out the blaze. (Credit: Lauren […]Read More
Aircraft flying recently on the Tunnel Five Fire in the Columbia River Gorge. (Courtesy: InciWeb) Read There’s a red flag warning and heat advisories in place throughout several areas of […]Read More
As the days get hotter and warmer, many Washingtonians are gearing up for the wildfires that will ignite across the region this year, causing smoky skies, evacuations and potentially devastating loss. Read More
The use of aerial fire retardant to fight wildfires could be further restricted to protect the environment.
A handful of groups from western states filed a motion last week to intervene in a lawsuit brought by an Oregon environmental group against the U.S. Forest Service for inadvertently dumping fire retardant into streams. Read More
Lawmakers are allocating over $6 billion this fiscal year to support the Department of the Interior and the United States Forest Service in wildfire response.
It’s an increase of 14% from the last year’s funding, and will support wildfire suppression, operations and a new research hub to aid fire management. This fiscal year, the forest service will see an increase of Read More
We’re nearing the end of October, but crews across Washington state continue to battle fires. Read More
Firefighting crews continue to build containment lines on the Nakia Creek fire, burning in southwestern Washington in Clark County.
More than 28,000 homes in Clark County are still under Level Three, or go now, evacuation orders, which haven’t changed since Monday.Read More
Pierce, Skamania and Clark counties have active wildfires after a warm and dry weekend.Read More
This year’s fire season has been the mildest year for Washington in a decade. But, the season isn’t over yet.Read More
Incident Management Team members responding to fire activity towards Orogrande on 97, which prompted the evacuation. (Photo courtesy USFS) Listen Rain and cooler temperatures have helped firefighters tame two major […]Read More
A haze of smoke over Pullman is visible from the top floor of Jackson Hall at Washington State University Tuesday. Photo by Rachel Sun Listen (Runtime 1:03) Read As smoke […]Read More
A first-of-its-kind climate resiliency website will help communities understand climate-related risks, the Biden administration said. The new website, launched Thursday, provides real-time information and predictions for local communities that are more vulnerable to disasters, such as wildfires, heat waves and droughts.Read More
The Washington Department of Natural Resources is warning of a potential increase in wildfire activity across the state this weekend. Red flag warnings have been issued in every county west of the Cascade crest. Read More
Even with smoke, you can breathe easier. Scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have practical tips to keep the air clean inside homes despite the smoke in Northwest skies.Read More
The U.S. Forest Service is looking at something different — very different — to improve situational awareness at big wildfires: high altitude balloons.Read More
Private electric utilities in the Pacific Northwest are planning tens of millions of dollars in upgrades to reduce the risk that their power lines could spark wildfires during extreme weather. Utilities such as Pacific Power, Avista, Idaho Power, Portland General Electric and Puget Sound Energy are either required to or are voluntarily submitting wildfire mitigation plans. Read More
Charred remains of a house in Malden, WA / Photo by Geoff Roth Listen Rebecca White reports on a lawsuit filed by families from Malden and Pine City, where a […]Read More
The Western Anabaptist Missionaries have built six houses since January for homeless Malden residents. Listen Read An aerial view of new homes being built in fire-damaged Malden / Video by […]Read More
Recent atmospheric research may help Northwest forest managers better prepare for wildfires.Read More
After a wildfire, damage to the landscape seems pretty obvious. But there’s more to it than burned trees: landslide dangers in burned areas. Read More
One family’s continuous wildfire preparation paid off this summer in North Central Washington.Read More
With cooler temperatures and more moisture in the air, preparations for next year’s wildfires have begun, and this means planned fires.Read More
Residents in the Methow Valley are hoping to prevent future devastating fires by creating BioChar. Fire scorching the forests of the Methow Valley in North Central Washington has become a devastating yearly event.Read More
As the weather gets colder the thought of wildfire may be floating away like smoke in the wind. But while the season is wrapping up, the management of wildfire isn't over.Read More
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.Read More
Scientists have discovered they can track fire lines and can quickly draw attention to spot fires using satellites.Read More
The Northwest is primed for fire season, and not in a good way. East of the Cascades, forecasters say this year could be worse than recent record-breaking fire seasons. Read More
Last year, former President Trump refused to approve a routine disaster declaration for Malden because he was feuding with Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat. So that federal aid didn't start arriving until after President Biden took office and he finally signed the order.Read More
This marks the second year the state Department of Natural Resources has pushed for legislation to expand Washington’s firefighting efforts. This time DNR is seeking $125 million every two years, during a legislative session complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic.Read More
In the decades since government restrictions reduced logging on federal lands, the timber industry has promoted the idea that private lands are less prone to wildfires, saying that forests thick with trees fuel bigger, more destructive blazes. But an analysis by OPB and ProPublica shows last month’s fires burned as intensely on private forests with large-scale logging Read More
Experts warn that Western states and the federal government need to radically increase the number and size of controlled burns to help reduce the ongoing risks of more catastrophic wildfire seasons. Read More
Many homeowners who lost everything in a wildfire had no idea they were at risk. Only two states require disclosing wildfire risk to buyers in the house hunting process.Read More
At around 18,000 members, the Okanogan Highlands Fire Watch group continues to provide what members call valuable and lifesaving information. People post evacuation notices, fire maps and recovery resources throughout fire season. Daniel Pratt started the group in 2015 during another particularly bad fire season for Okanogan County.Read More
A Facebook page called “Baby Yoda fights fires” has been documenting his journey and spreading joy far beyond the fire lines. More than 30,000 people and counting are following the page as he travels from crew to crew.Read More
Close communication with the Forest Service helped save one Mount Hood ski resort on Labor Day, when fire danger was critical and fires sparked and grew fast all round the Northwest. Employees at Mount Hood Meadows saw a social media post of a plume of smoke. Read More
