WPBN: The state of Washington is sending at least 280 firemen and 45 fire engines to assist in the fight against the flames that are currently raging in Los Angeles.
These fires have already claimed the lives of at least ten people, destroyed thousands of homes, and compelled 180,000 others to leave their homes.
Friday saw the continuation of three significant fires that were burning in the Los Angeles area. These fires extended from the Pacific Coast to Pasadena. In the early hours of Friday morning, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention reported that there were 29,000 acres that were being burned.
It is the responsibility of Ben Peeler, assistant chief for Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue, to coordinate the response from the state of Washington. There are around 180 firefighters and 45 engines participating in this reaction. This is in addition to the fact that the Department of Natural Resources in Washington is sending about one hundred additional wildland firefighters.
Peeler stated that firefighters who have been trained in the state of Washington have expertise dealing with a significant portion of the same terrain that is being damaged by the flames in Southern California; nonetheless, the urban part of the fire and the strong winds make for conditions that are perilous.
A quick update: Our crews have received their assignment and are currently enroute to the Palisades Fire in L.A. We will keep you posted! pic.twitter.com/sQZLdDZqSF
— Snohomish County Fire District #4 (@SnohomishFD4) January 10, 2025
“We’re telling all of our crews to be extremely flexible and expect the unexpected,” Peeler stated. “Fortunately, with the experience level with our firefighters, they know when to engage and when not to engage.”
According to Peeler, he anticipates that all of the strike teams from Washington will be present at the location and prepared to be deployed by Friday afternoon.
According to Joe Smillie, the deputy communications director for the Department of Natural Resources, around one third of the department’s firemen were present at the scene on Friday, and another sixty-four were on their way to Los Angeles.
Peeler stated that the state of California is providing reimbursement to the state of Washington for the deployment.
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“So, there’s no cost to our local fire departments who are sending personnel and resources down to California,” he stated.
Hilary Franz, who is leaving her position as Public Lands Commissioner in Washington state, stated that the fires in Los Angeles could be a precursor to what is to come for the state of Washington, particularly in more populous areas west of the Cascade Mountains.
“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 stated.
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For the first time in history, Franz said, more fires started west of the Cascades than east of the mountains in 2023.
In order to effectively address the increasing risk of fires, particularly in inhabited areas, she said the state has strengthened its firefighting resources. According to Franz, 95% of fires in Washington have been confined to 10 acres or less during the past four years.
However, Franz cautioned that in order to effectively combat fires such as those destroying the Los Angeles region, those resources must be strengthened and funded in the upcoming years.
