Fire Conditions Improving Across The PNW

Fire season continues in the Pacific Northwest.  But Carol Connolly, with the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center, says conditions are improving.

“We just took five large fires off the board over the last 24 hours. Four of those were in Oregon and one was in the state of Washington. So, great progress is being made."

Firefighters are getting help from cooler temperatures, shorter days and higher humidity.  But, Connolly says, it would only take a few days of warm weather to dry out grass and brush again.

“If those warmer, dryer conditions come to the west side of the Cascades, and that starts to dry out things and we do get an ignition, the chance of a large catastrophic fire isn’t there. But that doesn’t mean that our existing fires can’t grow.” 

Around 20,000 wildland firefighters are deployed around the country right now, and almost 8,000 of those are in Oregon, where 500,000 acres are still burning.

If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail glenn.vaagen@townsquaremedia.com