WA Gov. Declares Statewide Wildfire State of Emergency

Saturday, WA Gov. Bob Ferguson declared a statewide emergency over wildfire activity.

    National Guard Activated to Help with Wildfires

Gov. Ferguson released a statement, calling on all WA residents to be extremely careful with any outdoor activities that could trigger a fire.

Currently over 1,000 fires have or are burning 425,000 acres in our state, 13 task forces have been mobilized by Department of Natural Resources Chief Dave Upthegrove to fight the blazes.  Currently, 200,000 are still burning.

  Where Does This Summer Rank So Far?

DNR says the last time this many acres burned was in 2021, and we are not out of fire season yet.

According to the Governor's Office:

"The Governor’s emergency proclamation establishes a statewide ban on outdoor burning, including but not limited to:

• yard debris burning,
• trash disposal,
• land clearing,
• weed abatement,
• bonfires, and
• campfires not contained in structures such as fire rings."

The release added, these do not supercede or modify any previous burn restrictions from DNR and the Federal Bureau of Land Management.

Getty Images

This weekend is calling for windy conditions in many areas of the state, coupled with hot dry weather, have triggered a red-flag fire warning for virtually all of Eastern WA.  Ferguson's release also said in part:

"On Friday, July 31, Governor Ferguson activated 110 members of the Washington National Guard to support firefighting operations across the state, supplementing the 27 helicopter crew members activated earlier in July."

 When Was the Worst Season in State History?

The worst wildfire season in WA State history was in 2015, when just over 1 million acres burned, the equivalent of 1,562 square miles.