Washington state exploring ways to increase access to firefighting aircraft

Supertanker and Hillary Franz
Washington’s Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz spoke at a demonstration of the 747 Supertanker March 23, 2021 at Moses Lake, Washington.

Washington’s Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz has been outspoken recently about the need for her state to have adequate resources to prevent and suppress wildland fires. She is supporting a bill before the Legislature that would appropriate $125 million over the next two years and create long-term, dedicated funding for wildfire response, forest restoration, and community resilience.

From the Herald:

That $125 million investment includes:

$70.8 million for wildfire response, including hiring 100 additional firefighters and boosting the agency’s response to nearly 400,000 acres that current is unprotected; two new fixed-winged aircraft; upgrades and maintenance of the agency’s Vietnam-era Huey helicopters; and infrared and night-vision technology for fire detection work;

$35.7 million to fully fund the 20-year forest health plan for thinning and other work on 1.25 million acres of forest; grants and surplus vehicles to local fire districts and departments, as well as funding for training, equipment and personnel; and $1.2 million for workforce development for education and training, to bring forest-related jobs to communities throughout the state; and

$19.6 million to be spent at the community level to develop and implement programs for firebreaks, prescribed burns, creation of defensible green space and help for homeowners to protect homes and properties.

On Tuesday Commissioner Franz was at Moses Lake, Washington to see a demonstration water drop by the 747 Supertanker. The aircraft has been there for several weeks for routine maintenance and an upgrade to its drop system which is powered by compressed air.

She envisions state and federal funding sources to combine so that the 19,200-gallon air tanker can be based at Grant County International Airport at Moses Lake, which she described as “an unbelievably perfectly situated place” and could be a hub for firefighting aircraft to serve several states and British Columbia. She wrote on Twitter Wednesday, “If we get the federal and state resources we need, we can keep this plane based in Washington.” And on Tuesday, “This aircraft is a strategic wildland firefighting asset for the nation, and its home base in Moses Lake will allow it to fight fires in Washington and the entire West Coast.”

Washington has 11 UH-1H helicopters, a fleet acquired through the Federal Excess Property Program.

In an interview in 2019 Commissioner Franz talked about their aviation program. She believes in aggressive initial attack and keeping fires small:

“Helicopters are number one in initial attack and being able to get on top of fires quickly, get them contained, and help our firefighters get in safely… And then we can put the fire out and move on to the next one.”

Incident Management Team dispatched to a COVID incident

A Type 1 Incident Management Team is being mobilized on a COVID-19 assignment.

COVID response incident management team
Incident Management Team member gets vaccinated as she is being mobilized.

Pacific Northwest Type 1 Incident Management Team 3 led by Incident Commander Randy Johnson has been mobilized through FEMA Emergency Support Function 4 to support COVID-19 vaccination efforts for the Southwest Washington Health Services.

Katy O’Hara, Information Officer for the team, said, “The team will be providing command, logistics, operational, and public information support as mass vaccination efforts begin in the communities.”

The incident in the state of Washington is named “SW WA – COVID 19 Pandemic Vaccination 2020030901”. (I’m not sure how that’s going to look on the T-shirt.)

At least one of the IMT members received their first dose of the vaccine after being notified about the assignment. They will be eligible for the required second dose in four weeks. About two weeks after that, they will begin to get strong immunity.

Our take

All wildland firefighters, especially Incident Management Teams, crews, and individuals that could be mobilized this year, need to get vaccinated now. The government should put in them in the 1b category along with first responders and frontline essential workers. It takes about six weeks after the first dose of the Moderna vaccine before immunity approaches the 95 percent effectiveness seen in the phase three trials if the second dose is received at 28 days. (Edit: contractors also need access to the vaccine.)

Washington state DNR requests funds for 100 additional firefighters

Wildfires in Washington, 2020
Map showing locations of wildfires in Washington that were reported to the National Interagency Fire Center in 2020.

Legislation being introduced in the state of Washington requests additional funding to beef up their fire suppression capability on the ground and in the air.

The number of acres burned in wildfires last year in the state, 812,000, was more than four times the average in the 2000s. In eastern Washington, 80 percent of the buildings were destroyed by the Babb-Malden Fire in September, 2020. The number of acres blackened in  Oregon last year, just across the border, was the second highest ever recorded.

Babb-Malden Fire
Babb-Malden Fire in eastern Washington, September, 2020. Whitman County Sheriff photo.

The bill introduced earlier this week in Washington, HB 1168, would appropriate $125 million for the Department of Natural Resources to create for the first time a dedicated fund to suppress and mitigate wildfires over the next two-year budget period.

A similar bill was introduced last year but failed to pass, possibly because it also stipulated that a portion of the funds would be raised by establishing a surtax on home insurance premiums. This latest version leaves it up to the legislators to come up with a source for the money.

For two of the last three years, Washington had the worst air quality in the world due to smoke from wildfires.

The requested funds can be sorted into four categories:

Wildfire Response — $75.2 million

The bill would create positions for 100 more firefighters, adding three 20-person hand crews, 20 dozer operators, and two 10-person “post-release” crews comprised of formerly incarcerated persons who served on state fire response crews.

The bill would also allow the purchase of two intelligence gathering fixed wing aircraft to be used on fires. Their ten very old UH-1H Huey helicopters would receive upgrades of some systems and night-flying capabilities. Washington does not own any air tankers, but in 2020 they had approximately six privately owned single engine air tankers (SEATS) on contract.

Forest Restoration — $31.4 million

This would fully fund and accelerate the DNR’s 20-Year Forest Health Strategic Plan, which calls for restoring natural wildfire resistance to 1.25 million acres of forest.

Workforce Development — $5.9 million

Provide career pathways for foresters, firefighters and mill workers

Community Resilience — $12.6 million

Make investments at the home, neighborhood, and community levels to reduce wildfire risk and protect communities. Including investments in defensive strategies at the community level such as fuel breaks, prescribed fire, and creating defensible green space, plus  direct assistance to home owners to secure their property and neighborhood with programs like FireWise.

In the video below Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz and Rep. Larry Springer (D-Kirkland) joined experts and advocacy leaders from across the state to unveil the just-introduced bill. The discussion about fire begins at 6:00.

map fires Washington
Map showing heat detected by satellites on wildfires in Washington at 4:18 p.m. PDT September 8, 2020.

To see all articles on Wildfire Today tagged “Washington”, click here.

Air quality and smoke forecasts for September, 13, 2020

Smoke Forecast fire September 13, 2020
Smoke forecast for 6 a.m. PDT Sept 13, 2020.

The map above shows the forecast for the distribution of near-surface smoke at 6 a.m. PDT September, 13, 2020.

It appears that severe impacts will occur in areas of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana.

(UPDATED smoke and air quality maps for September 13 can be found HERE)

Air quality from AirNow at 3 p.m. PDT September 12, 2020 is below. Most of Oregon, Washington, and northern California are in the categories of Unhealthy, Very Unhealthy, or Hazardous. If you’re in those areas and are lucky enough to have an N95 mask, this is a good time to use it. Being indoors does not help much unless you are aggressively filtering the air with a HEPA category filter. (Information about how to reduce your exposure to smoke.)

Air quality at 3 p.m. PDT Sept. 12, 2020
Air quality at 3 p.m. PDT Sept. 12, 2020. AirNow.

Below is the air quality forecast for Sunday September 13, 2020.

Air Quality forecast for September 13, 2020
Air Quality forecast for September 13, 2020. AirNow.

The photos below compare visibility in Eugene, Oregon on a clear day and today, September 12, 2020.

Visibility Eugene, Oregon clear day
Visibility in Eugene, Oregon on a clear day.
Visibility Eugene, Oregon today September 12, 2020 smoke fires
Visibility in Eugene, Oregon today, September 12, 2020.

First flight for a Washington DNR helicopter

First flight for N342WN Washington DNR helicopter
This tweet was posted by George Geissler, a Washington State Forester and Deputy Supervisor, Wildland Fire Management and Forest Resiliency.

Congratulations to the Washington State Department of Natural Resources for the first flight of their 10th helicopter. The agency began acquiring their military surplus UH-1H (B-205) ships in 1989 through the Federal Excess Property Program.

In an interview last September Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz talked about their aviation program and the addition of this helicopter. She believes in aggressive initial attack and keeping fires small:

“Helicopters are number one in initial attack and being able to get on top of fires quickly, get them contained, and help our firefighters get in safely… And then we can put the fire out and move on to the next one.”