‘Unprecedented, dangerous territory’: US north-west reckons with a summer of historic wildfires
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- Pacific Northwest wildfires have burned more than 2.9 million acres across Washington and Oregon this year, with Oregon logging the most acreage in recorded history and three blazes around Spokane destroying at least 846 structures.
- US firefighting resources are fully deployed at "preparedness level 5" — the highest federal classification — and an anonymous federal fire captain from the region told the paper the designation means "triage – it means some fires aren't going to get firefighters."
- Wildland firefighters are paying the human cost: seven have died in the line of duty this summer, and retired fire chief Bobbie Scopa of Grassroots Wildland Firefighters said containing the remaining ~2% of fires would require "double the workforce and probably triple the budget."
- University of Washington fire ecologist Susan Prichard warned that "western Washington and western Oregon are ready to burn," noting a hot, dry July cured vegetation across the region and that more than 600 fires ignited in a 10-day stretch.
- Former Washington Governor Jay Inslee said Spokane "has joined the rapidly growing list of our communities that have been devastated by these climate-exaggerated fires" and called climate change "this new beast that is attacking our communities."
- El Niño carries a 95% chance of becoming very strong by September, with below-normal precipitation forecast through November — conditions Inslee said could produce "additional catastrophes even this summer."
- The Old Trails fire near Spokane may have been set by arson and a man has been taken into custody, as investigators probed one of the three blazes that converged on Washington's second-largest city.
Why it matters: The fire suppression system is engineered to catch 98% of ignitions before they reach 100 acres, per federal statistics, but at PL5 that final 2% now overwhelms the workforce. With a 95%-likely super El Niño bearing down on fuels that haven't seen meaningful rainfall since July, the resource ceiling has no buffer left for any new ignition in the wetter western Cascades — where Prichard says the forests are already primed.
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