PORT ANGELES – Our region could be heading into what fire officials describe as a potentially “interesting” summer.
Olympic Interagency Fire Deputy Fire Management Officer Ty Crowe briefed Clallam County Commissioners this week, saying while winter and early spring have been relatively mild, much of the state is already trending dry.
Crowe says about 23 percent of Washington is currently in drought, with nearly half the state considered abnormally dry.
He told commissioners the peninsula isn’t historically dry — but it is drying out.
“We’re not historically dry, but we are dry, and we’re setting up to see more and more of that, so it could definitely be an interesting summer,” said Crowe.
Crowe says fire season timing often hinges on what he calls “June-uary” — whether late spring brings meaningful rain or an early stretch of warm, dry weather.
As for preparedness, he says the interagency zone — which includes Olympic National Park, Olympic National Forest, the San Juan Islands and western Washington Fish and Wildlife lands — aims to be fully staffed by June 1st.
“This year we’re shooting for having three Type 6 engines, which are like big pickup-truck–style rigs with about five or six folks on them — with one in Port Angeles, one in the Quilcene area, and one in Hoodsport. And then we have a really highly trained, highly skilled wildland fire module. We call them a module, and that’s a crew of about ten with all the gadgets and fancy trucks and a lot of skills. So we’re pretty fortunate to have them. They’re based out of Port Angeles, and they’re about ten folks.”
Crowe says cooperation with state and local partners is critical, especially given the size of the peninsula.
Crowe says agencies are also working on a new Western Washington fire danger operating plan to better coordinate burn restrictions and public messaging across jurisdictions.
In addition, crews are continuing to monitor last year’s large fires — including the Bear Gulch Fire and Tunnel Creek near Quilcene — using aerial heat detection before officially closing those incidents.