Crews in Pierce County are prepping for wildfire season

Even though rain is in the forecast in the coming days, it’s not going to do much to quell the danger from wildfires, that’s the word from some fire officials.

Wildfire season is approaching and some say it’s already here. KIRO 7 spoke to Central Pierce Fire and Rescue (CPFR), which is now training some firefighters in a new program to get them ready for wildfires.

Mere feet from one of CPFR’s fire houses was grass so dry that it would easily burn, underlining the dry conditions we’ve had for weeks.

Mike Curtis lives in Pierce County and was shopping at a Lowe’s Hardware store when he spoke to KIRO 7 about the dry conditions.

“I don’t think one year dry is going to make a difference I really don’t. It always comes back in the PNW raining cats and dogs,” he said.

For Curtis, gardening season has coincided with very dry weather to kick off June, which often sees significant rain.

He knows the risk from this dry spell even if he believes rain will certainly be back, “it doesn’t help that they are cutting the budget down on firefighting. That kind of scares me…. barbecues anything you got to be careful.

Washington state has had to slash the budget that funds wildfires.

The upcoming season means wildfire training for Central Pierce Fire and Rescue. Coordinator Jake Weigley is concerned about the dry spell.

“We’ve seen an uptick in these types of incidents,” Weigley said.

He admits after the Sumner Grade fire and the 244th Command Fires in 2020, CPFR and all the other Pierce fire agencies recognized major wildfires are a real problem close to Pierce County’s population centers.

“We’ve focused on training our folks and strengthening our regional relationships…we’re already experiencing small fires in the region things that we probably wouldn’t see traditionally until mid-July,” he said.

For Central Pierce Fire and Rescue, this season marks the start of a new era.

After voters approved a merger, Central Pierce combined with Graham and Orting to create a new fire district that will cover nearly 180 square miles of Pierce County.

That coverage area includes the potential for wildfires, so apprentices have begun intense training to learn how to deal with the situations, according to Weigley.

“Much of our community is growing in the Graham area many developments out there and they butt up right adjacent to forest land,” Weigley said.

We’ve already seen one fire in Cle Elum that prompted evacuations and burned structures.

Another fire has sparked up within the last few days, the Pomas Fire, started four days ago due to lightning in the Okanogan/Wenatchee National Forest, according to the Washington Department of Natural Resources.

Weigley knows rain is in the forecast, but he admits it’s not the sustained rain we need.

“That will buy us a few days but right now we’re sitting at quite a deficit for the year for cumulative moisture. Our fuels have already started transitioning to that dry phase,” he said.

Firefighters are urging people to be mindful with anything related to fire, especially outdoors. Fire officials don’t want to see any new wildfires burning with dry brush and grass.