Hundreds of Washington firefighters sent to battle LA wildfires

Washington state is sending at least 280 firefighters and 45 fire engines to help battle the Los Angeles wildfires, which have now killed at least 10 people, burned thousands of homes, and forced 180,000 people to evacuate.

Three large fires continued to burn Friday in the Los Angeles area, stretching from the Pacific Coast to Pasadena. According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention, 29,000 acres were ablaze Friday morning.

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Ben Peeler, assistant chief for Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue, is coordinating the Washington state response. That response includes 45 engines and about 180 firefighters. In addition, the Washington Department of Natural Resources is sending almost 100 additional wildland firefighters.

Peeler said firefighters trained in Washington state have experience dealing with a lot of the same terrain that is being impacted by the fires in Southern California, but the urban aspect of the fire and the extreme winds make for dangerous conditions.

“We’re telling all of our crews to be extremely flexible and expect the unexpected,” Peeler said. “Fortunately, with the experience level with our firefighters, they know when to engage and when not to engage.”

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Peeler said he expects all the Washington strike teams to be on site and ready to be deployed by Friday afternoon.

About a third of the DNR firefighters were on the scene Friday and another 64 were en route to Los Angeles, according to Joe Smillie, the department’s deputy communications director.

Peeler said the state of California is reimbursing Washington for the deployment.

“So, there’s no cost to our local fire departments who are sending personnel and resources down to California,” he said.

Hilary Franz, Washington state’s outgoing Public Lands Commissioner, said the LA fires could be a sign of what’s to come for Washington state, especially in more populated areas west of the Cascades.

“This is an incredibly tragic situation, and it is also one that is truly highlighting the incredible risks that we are facing in the western United States, especially in the wildland urban interface where you have a lot of people that are living within an area that has become more and more at risk of fire,” she said.

Franz noted that 2023 marked the first time in recorded history that more fires broke out west of the Cascades than east of the mountains.

She said the state has beefed up its firefighting resources to better respond to the growing threat of fires, especially in populated areas. In the last four years, 95% of Washington fires have been contained to 10 acres or less, Franz said.

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But Franz warned that those resources need to continue to grow and receive funding in the coming years to successfully fight fires like the ones ravaging the Los Angeles area.

“Because our success has been so good, we’re breeding a false sense of security,” she said. “We need to keep our eye on the prize. Otherwise, we’ll see more homes in jeopardy and more people at risk.”