Washington prepping for ‘one of the not so good years’ with wildfire season

Washington's 2023 wildfire season is on track to be above average, with 497 wildfires burning 2,612 acres so far, compared to 1,800 acres at the same time last year, despite the absence of large wildfires currently, due to a combination of factors including low precipitation levels in some regions and the usual drying and heating cycle increasing fire potential. — Washington’s 2023 wildfire season is on track to be above average, with 497 wildfires burning 2,612 acres so far, compared to 1,800 acres at the same time last year, despite the absence of large wildfires currently, due to a combination of factors including low precipitation levels in some regions and the usual drying and heating cycle increasing fire potential. File photo.

As of June 20, a total of 497 wildfires have burned 2,612 acres, according to data provided by the State Department of Natural Resources

TJ Martinell
The Center Square Washington

Washington’s 2023 wildfire season is shaping up for the State Department of Natural Resources, or DNR, to potentially be another “one of the not so good years.”

As of June 20, a total of 497 wildfires have burned 2,612 acres, according to data provided by the State Department of Natural Resources, or DNR. Around the same time in 2021, 1,800 acres had burned.

According to Inciweb, there are no active large wildfires in the state. Wildfires are considered “large” when they burn 100 or more acres.

The most recent wildfire reported by DNR was located near Naches in central Washington, which grew to 645 acres before it was fully contained on June 8.

The Northwest Interagency Coordination Center’s, or NWCC, latest seven-day significant fire potential report shows that Washington state is almost entirely either in a mild or normal level.

Yet, DNR Communications Manager Thomas Kyle Milward noted that last month there were several regions in the state that had the lowest or second-lowest levels of precipitation on record. In contrast, the 2023 wildfire season started out with a “very wet spring” that resulted in 55,611 acres burned on DNR-managed land, compared to the 10-year average of 204,589 acres.

“Last year was really the outlier because we had that really wet spring,” Milward said. “It’s example of something to discard from the data set. As far as acre goes [this year], we’re treading along the same direction or an above average fire season. We’re kind of right on pace for one of the not so good years.”

There are a variety of factors that determine the severity of a wildfire season, including temperature, regional drought, lightning strikes, and the condition of affected land. Additionally, another factor is the level of precipitation during late July and early August.

Those factors have contributed to the varying outcomes of recent wildfire seasons. While the 2015 wildfire season was the worst in state history, 2019 was one of the mildest in a decade.

The 2020 wildfire season was also on track to be yet another relatively mild season through August, until large wildfires broke out over Labor Day weekend and burned 800,000 acres.

According to the NWCC’s latest fuel status report put out on June 14 states that “the usual cycle of drying and heat building up fire potential will continue to occur. When frontal systems pass the areas with fine fuels cured will be at highest risk of experiencing problematic fire behavior.”

This report was first published by The Center Square Washington.