Wildfire season gave Washington a break in 2022

Despite air quality getting hazy in recent weeks, Washington's wildfire season in 2022 was fairly mild compared to the past few years.

That's according to the state's Department of Natural Resources. At a press event Friday, Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz celebrated "the beginning of the end of the 2022 wildfire season."

"After weathering the second and third worst fire seasons in our state's history in 2020 and 2021, it sure feels really good to say that, this year, Washington saw the fewest acres burned in an entire decade. Rains have fallen across portions of Eastern Washington, temperatures are moderating as we enter fall, moisture is returning to fuels on both sides of the Cascades."

A total of 140,000 acres have burned in Washington state, so far, in 2022. DNR says that is the fewest number of acres since 2012. A total of 1,370 separate fires have been reported this year, the second fewest in a decade. Structure loss was also limited to a single outbuilding within the Bolt Creek fire.

"Let me repeat, this is the best fire season our state has seen in the last 10 years," Franz said.

DNR points to a few reasons the fire season was so mild this year, starting with the low number fires, and the considerable rain that fell last winter and spring.

But Franz also points to House Bill 1168 that was passed by the state Legislature last year as a major factor. It provided funding to modernize and upgrade the state's wildfire response. The state purchased 16 bulldozers and four firefighting excavators. Currently, new Kodiak multi-mission airplanes are undergoing modifications that will add infrared sensors and fire mapping technology. Before, Washington mostly had Vietnam War era aircraft to combat wildfires, Franz said.

In previous years, DNR had about 40 full-time firefighters. It had funding for 100 more this time around, fielding a total of 691 firefighters in 2022. The state continues to recruit, Franz said.

"Of course, while we are past peak fire season... that does not mean that we will not still see sporadic fire activity during the remainder of the year," Franz said, noting that the Bolt Creek fire continues to send smoke into the air.

"Bolt Creek has reminded us that wildfire doesn't see boundaries. As climate change and other factors have worsened the length and impact of our fire seasons in Washington state, turning them into true fire years, wildfire is no longer an east-side issue, it is an entire state issue."