wildfire

Chelan County is closing two of roads which provide access to several popular recreational destinations over this year's 4th of July holiday. The Chelan County Commissioners voted Tuesday to close both Burch Mountain and Horse Lake Roads from Wednesday, July 2 through Tuesday, July 9. Commi...

U.S. Highway 2 (U.S. 2) is fully open this morning after a portion of it was shut down on Tuesday night due to a wildfire at the mouth of Tumwater Canyon near Leavenworth. The fire was first reported at around 7 p.m. and prompted the response of about 40 firefighters from several agencies, including Chelan County Fire District No...

Surplus Defense Department aircraft will once again be utilized for wildfire suppression under legislation co-introduced by Congressman Dan Newhouse. Rep. Newhouse and California Democrat Sauld Carbajal introduced a bipartisan bill in February. The...

Officials with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) are reiterating an impassioned plea for recreationists to be especially cautious with fire now that warmer weather has arrived to North Central Washington. Forest officials say that over Memorial Day Weekend there were four campfires that got out of control in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, two which led to wildfires, including one that torche

Unfortunately, 2024 was one for the record books in Oregon, for all of the wrong reasons.  The wildfire season was one of the worst, acreage wise, with nearly two million acres of the state burning last year.  And Matt McElligott, President of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association said the industry is still feeling the economic impact.   “People are tryi...

More than 70% of Oregon’s wildfires are caused by people.  Kristin Babbs, with Keep Oregon Green, said it causes a lot of damage.   "Overall, the acres burned last year were off the charts," she noted.  "It was about 92,000 acres were attributed to human caused wildfires."   The two leading...

Last week, the Oregon House passed a bill that attempts to help homeowners in high-risk fire areas keep their insurance.  Some property owners report losing coverage.  Medford-area state Senator Jeff Golden said the bill directs the state to help communities take action to reduce wildfire risk.   "All prope...

A rural Oregon fire district has a Hollywood celebrity to thank for new safety equipment.  Southwest Polk Fire, in Dallas, just received a sizable grant from the Gary Sinise Foundation, allowing the fire district west of Salem to buy ten full sets of turnouts for firefighters.   ...

Oregon lawmakers are trying to find a regular source of funding to pay for fighting wildfires.  Fighting wildfires across the state costs around $300 million annually.  The Legislature is trying to find a regular source to pay that bill, instead of relying only on the general fund.  State Senator Fre...

A controversial law involving Oregon’s Wildfire Risk Map would be repealed, under a bill in the Legislature.  The map would have required property owners to take steps to reduce wildfire risk on their property.  Derrick Wheeler, with the Department of Forestry, said the new bill would remove those requirements.   "It removes the ...