Firefighters work to extinguish one of several wildfires that hit Clark and Cowlitz counties in March.
Western Washington has a more than normal risk for wildland fires in the next few months according to a recent government report.
The Northwest Interagency Coordination Center released its Climate and Significant Fire Potential Outlook April 1 which showed that through July Clark County was included in an area with “above normal” wildland fire potential.
John Saltenberger, fire weather program manager for the center, explained that the risk wasn’t for “large, costly” fires this month, but could mean a greater chance for “escaped backyard burns” and campfires going out of control.
Saltenberger gave a presentation on the outlook which looked at past weather trends as well as a forecast of what to expect. He said that the Pacific Ocean was “just barely” into an El Niño event as of the update. He explained the designation meant there was a high risk of temperatures being “unusually warm” going into April, May, and June.
Regarding precipitation, he explained the risk of an unusually wet or dry April, May and June were mostly undetermined.
Saltenberger explained data from the Climate Prediction Center showed a “warmer than typical” temperature forecast for April in Washington, though the month would likely be wetter than typical as well. That changes in the predictions for May, June, and July, which show warmer and drier weather for Western Washington and northwest Oregon.
Clark County Fire District 10 Chief Gordon Brooks explained in a post on the district’s Facebook page that the poor precipitation this year was a likely cause for the greater-than-normal fire potential. In March several wildfires hit both Clark and Cowlitz counties.
The early start to the fire season caught the attention of the state Department of Natural Resources who addressed the fires March 21; In the first half of that week, firefighters had responded to 50 wildfires with 49 of them being on the western side of the state.
“This spring may not be business as usual in regards to outdoor burning,” Brooks wrote in an email to The Reflector. He urged awareness of this year’s fire season, especially given the potential for backyard burns going out of control.
“I have been doing this for almost 31 years. This is the first time I have seen a fire season projection like this,” Brooks wrote in a post on the district’s Facebook page.
