EVERETT — A hot and dry summer predicted for Western Washington, combined with widespread drought, creates the dangerous potential for wildfires.
A record-breaking absence of snowpack also means rivers and streams are running low throughout Snohomish County. Major utility companies are prepared with adequate supplies of drinking water, but folks who rely on streams and wells may be affected, according to the National Weather Service in Seattle.
The governor on Friday issued a statewide drought declaration.
On Monday, the Skykomish River in Gold Bar was lower than it was on May 18 during the drought of 1977, weather service hydrologist Brent Bower said.
Still, Bower cautions that summer weather outlooks for the region often are proven wrong by unexpected significant rainfall.
“A lot can happen between now and the summer,” he said.
Either way, local fire crews say they’re prepared. Every year, they see brush fires in the county, and many of those are caused by the actions — or inactions — of people. Now combine that with dried-out grass and feisty winds.
Last June an abandoned campfire destroyed 37 acres of newly planted Douglas fir in Lakewood. In September 2012, a GMC minivan burned up after the heat of the rig’s exhaust system lit brush along Marsh Road near Snohomish.
“People don’t think that’s going to happen around here, but it really does,” Snohomish Fire Chief Ron Simmons said.
Vegetation hasn’t dried out yet, but there is plenty of it headed that way, Simmons said.
“We are planning for it,” he said. “We do every year.”
In urban areas, cigarettes are a primary concern, Marysville Fire Marshal Tom Maloney said. Discarded cigarettes start fires in beauty bark and planters, and the flames spread to nearby buildings.
“That creates significant damage,” he said.
Last year was the worst wildfire season ever seen in Washington, burning hundreds of thousands of acres and destroying many homes, said Sandra Kaiser, a spokeswoman for the Department of Natural Resources.
“It looks like we’re going to be replicating in many ways the danger we had last year,” she said, plus the added potential for areas west of the Cascade Range. A lot depends on lightning strikes, she said.
Campfires also kick up Memorial Day weekend, DNR spokeswoman Janet Pearce said. Fires need to be watched constantly, and not abandoned until the ashes are cool to the touch. Even a little breeze can get an abandoned fire going.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.
Wildfire prevention
Keep anything flammable 30 feet from the house. Clear dead grass, flowers and weeds.
Clear out gutters and any debris on rooftops.
Keep grass short and green. Keep flower boxes and peat moss moist.
Trim any branches that touch the roof of a house, garage or other building.
Soak or bury campfires before sleeping or leaving the area. Do the same for charcoal briquettes. Don’t dump them in a trash can or plastic container.
Keep a shovel and five gallons of water near the campfire.
Source: Snohomish County firefighters
More info: firewise.org.
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