SEATTLE — Washington this year has had the fewest square miles burned in a decade, following the second- and third-worst fire seasons on record in 2020 and 2021.
State Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz announced Friday that about 219 square miles have burned in 2022 wildfires, The Seattle Times reported. That’s compared to nearly 781 square miles in 2021 and 1,316 square miles burned in 2020.
2015 was the state’s worst fire season in recorded history, when more than 1,562 square miles burned.
Franz celebrated the moderate fire season, saying a combination of Department of Natural Resources equipment, aerial firefighting assets, personnel, partnerships with other agencies, and a rainy spring that delayed the start of this year’s fire season all contributed to the success.
Since taking office in 2017, Franz has touted the benefits of controlled burns and “treating” forests by thinning brush, trimming branches and removing dying trees.
Department of Natural Resources officials since 2017 have tracked over 625 square miles of completed treatments, and about 109 square miles of prescribed burns in Central and Eastern Washington.
On Friday, Franz said crews this year were able to keep more than 94 percent of fires to 10 acres or less.
Franz also stressed that the Bolt Creek Fire still burning northeast of Seattle was a reminder that fire “doesn’t see boundaries.”
“As climate change and other factors have worsened the length and impact of fire seasons, turning them instead into fire years, wildfire is no longer an eastside issue — it’s a statewide one,” she said.
The Bolt Creek Fire started Sept. 10 just north of Skykomish along U.S. Highway 2. As of Friday afternoon, the fire had torched about 20 square miles and was 36 percent contained.
The blaze is burning into the Wild Sky Wildnerness and has prompted several closures of the highway. The exact origin and cause are still under investigation, but the Western Washington Incident Management Team has confirmed that the blaze was human-caused.
