SPOKANE, Wash. – A map put out by the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise shows July in Eastern Washington as having above normal potential for wildfire.
The maps, created every year, shows a quiet spring and early summer in Eastern Washington, then a sharp uptick in July.
“As you start getting into July that’s the hottest part of the year and things start to dry out pretty quickly,” explained Ed Delgado, the National Predictive Services program manager. “That will melt off what little snow was left.”
Delgado said many factors go into how bad a wildfire season is, both environmental conditions and the way a fire is managed.
“We don’t know if it’ll be bad or sudden, but we know there is a good snow pack that should keep things quiet early this summer,” he said. “When that kind of dries out, you have more potential for fire.”
The mid-summer is typically when we start to see the most wildfires in the Inland Northwest.
Delgado said the good precipitation we have seen this winter and spring might indicate trouble for us ahead.
“Typically when you have a really wet winter and spring, the next calendar year down could be a high fire activity year,” he explained. “The reason for that is because you have a lot of moisture you get a lot of vegetation. It becomes more fuel available to burn.”