Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed an emergency proclamation Tuesday for all 39 counties for the threat of wildfire. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has declared a state of emergency in the entire state due to wildfire threats. Inslee signed the proclamation Tuesday as dry hot conditions continue and several fires burn in the state. The proclamation notes that there have been "abnormally dry conditions" throughout July and above-average temperatures, causing "a high risk of severe wildfire outbreaks requiring an immediate response." The move allows for assistance from the Washington National Guard, which has already been requested by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Among the requests are the use of aviation assets and crews to be sent to the eastern part of the state. Also see | 5 things you can do to help prevent wildfires Also see | Tossing a cigarette from your car could cost you $1,025 The DNR has responded to 891 wildfires that have burned 113,000 acres so far this year. The DNR responded to 853 wildfires in all of 2017. "Catastrophic fires are burning up and down the West Coast, putting a strain on our firefighting resources," Inslee said. "This proclamation ensures resources are ready to go at a moment’s notice to help protect our communities from another unprecedented fire season."<doc-sep>Washington's wildfire season is underway, but -- for the moment -- it's other Western states that are fighting large, deadly fires. The state has seen 819 wildfires thus far this season, most of them small, but still burning a collected 109,896 acres, according to Joe Smillie, a spokesman with the state Department of Natural Resources Fire Division. As of Friday morning, no large fires were burning in Washington, but a raft of hot, dry weather was making for perfect conditions. "It's been a lot hotter, a lot drier, especially on the west side," Smillie said. Everything's really dried out, now we're looking to the timber that's really starting to dry out." Smaller brush and grass fires have consumed the most acreage thus far this season in Washington, but it's timber fires in forested areas that will typically get out of control as firefighters face mountainous terrain and other obstacles in their efforts to control them. Elsewhere in the West, those kind of fires are already blazing. In California, at least six large fires burned across more than 110,000 acres, including the now-deadly Carr Fire in Shasta County. Near Redding, where that fire spread, two firefighters were killed in the blaze and nearly 40,000 people were under evacuation orders as of Friday morning. That fire was up to more than 44,000 acres Friday, with only 3 percent of it contained. RELATED: Carr Fire evacuees in Redding recount fleeing for their lives Farther south, the Ferguson Fire has claimed the life of one firefighter and had cleared visitors from much of Yosemite National Park as smoke from the 45,911-acre blaze enveloped the park and surrounding area. The blaze was still about two miles away, in the Sierra National Forest, but health officials opted to close the area and other nearby areas because of the smoke. More than 134,000 acres were on fire in Oregon Friday morning, according to the National Interagency Fire Information Center. The Taylor Creek Fire, burning in an area south and west of Grants Pass, was up to more than 13,000 acres Thursday night, and crews were confidently holding the fire line, they told the Statesman Journal at that time. But by Friday morning, officials said the fire was expanding on several fronts with crews looking for new areas to establish containment lines, according to an update posted to Inciweb. That fire is the largest of the Garner Complex, several fires that total more than 21,000 acres in the area. RELATED: Firefighters battle blazes in several western states Another, more than 9,000-acre fire in the Umpqua National Forest had moved onto BLM and private land, drawing ever more firefighters to help control the trio of fires called the South Umpqua Complex. Evacuation orders of level 1 and level 2 (advisory and be ready, respectively) in areas near the complex. An earlier grass and brush fire, the Substation Fire, had burned more than 78,000 acres, but was 95 percent contained as of Friday. Idaho also had several large fires as of Friday, burning across more than 109,000 acres. Montana, on the other hand, had only a few thousand acres burning, though if recent history is any indicator, that figure will increase dramatically as the season goes on, as it will in Washington. Senior editor Daniel DeMay can be reached at 206-448-8362 or danieldemay@seattlepi.com. Follow him on Twitter: @Daniel_DeMay.<doc-sep>
Washington Governor Jay Inslee has issued an emergency proclamation over the state’s growing wildfire dangers, activating the National Guard. “Catastrophic fires are burning up and down the West Coast, putting a strain on our firefighting resources,” Inslee said. “This proclamation ensures resources are ready to go at a moment’s notice to help protect our communities from another unprecedented fire season.” RELATED: The smoke in Washington is not just from the West Coast Inslee’s proclamation states that since the start of July 2018, the state has experienced “abnormally dry conditions with periods of above average temperatures …” The result has been plenty of dry fuel for wildfires to burn. Weather projections indicate that conditions won’t likely get better anytime soon, possibly not until after September. Wildfires over the past couple of weeks have required additional response equipment, the governor’s office notes. The proclamation covers all 39 counties in Washington and allows the state’s military forces to assist in firefighting efforts. The last time Governor Inslee declared a state of emergency to fight the state’s wildfires was in September 2017, much later in the year. At the time, the Jolly Mountain fire was causing multiple evacuations in Eastern Washington. Washington’s Department of Natural Resources is recommending that residents refrain from using recreational fires. It’s also reminding residents to never throw cigarette butts out their car windows — a common source of brush fires. Authorities have already noticed a “categorical shift” in the state’s wildfire season. This year, three firefighting helicopters have been staged in the western part of the state — something that firefighting crews have never had to do before. But fires are getting worse. In fact, there were 661 fires that burned 17,366 acres of DNR land in 2017. So far in 2018, there have been 1,711 fires that have burned 109,000 acres of DNR land. The issue has even prompted a University of Washington study to recommend that state residents prepare for smoke days, just as they would for snow days and power outages.