he National Interagency Fire Center reports that 47 major fires are burning across the nation right now.
Across Washington and Oregon, the Bureau of Land Management predicts fire season to stay busy through September. Crews have responded to quite a few fires here, including some challenging ones in the Colville National Forest, plus others near Coulee City and Brewster and also around the Tri-Cities.
The BLM is deploying a lot of single-engine scoopers here in the northwest.
“It has floats and about four hours of fuel and can scoop water at usually 600 – 800 gallons at a time, stay on scene and continue to scoop water from our water sources that are nearby. We have easy access to great water sources. They deliver quite a lot of gallons of water in a very efficient manner. We’reutilizing single scoopers here, but there’s also multi-engine scoopers. They have more capacity. We’re starting to see more use of those. They are fairly new, maybe from the last five or six fire seasons. We’redefinitely starting to see more capacity with the scoopers,” said Matt Hampton, Unit Aviation Manager, Spokane District BLM.
The effectiveness of resources depends on factors like weather and topography. The BLM says all the water sources around Washington and Oregon make the single-engine scooper a good choice, and they are a good tool against the type of fuel in Eastern Washington.
“They definitely, here in the Spokane District, are effective. We have a lighter fuel, a flashier fuel where they are very effective. A lot of our fires are closer to water sources like the Columbia River or the Snake River, or what-not,” said Hampton.
The BLM works closely with sheriff’s departments to keep boaters and kayakers clear of areas where the scoopers and helicopters will draw up water.
Once fire activity calms down in Washington and Oregon, officials predict resources may shift to Southern Idah, Utah and Nevada, where they believe fire conditions will intensify in the fall season.
