WA state preparing for ‘significant fire season.’ A Pasco plant is part of solution

When Tri-Cities fire crews were faced with thousands of acres of burning grass earlier this month they had a new tool.

And it came from close to home.

Local fire crews called for aerial help from the federal government to battle a 6,000-acre wildland fire. The planes were loaded with fire retardant made in Pasco.

The Perimeter Solutions plant accounts for 10% to 15% of all the fire retardant used in the U.S. each year. The phosphate-based foam is dumped ahead of the blaze and stops it.

The chemical is the same one used in fertilizer but with a lower concentration.

Hilary Franz, state commissioner of public lands and a gubernatorial candidate, visited the plant this week as part of a tour of the resources to fight fires.

“There’s a lot of questions about making sure we have enough access as we’re seeing more and more fires across the county and across multiple countries,” she told the Herald in an interview after the tour.

“I’m working constantly to make sure I’ve got enough firefighters. I got enough aviation resources and then obviously, I have to have enough product to put into those aviation resources,” she said.

Already, several areas of Washington state are experiencing high to extreme fire danger. Franz said its the earliest the state has seen these conditions.

Tri-City fire officials similarly have raised early fire warnings because of the high temperatures and low humidity that are drying out the grasses and trees.

Fire danger is categorized in five rankings between low and extreme. As of Thursday, the fire danger in the Tri-Cities was sitting at the third rating — high.

But the Tri-Cities has seen several large fires sweep through the area, including three large fires that burned around Benton City and Finley.

The fires all started on June 12. One burned 6,000 acres south of Benton City, another burned 530 acres south of Finley and a third blackened 150 acres north of Benton City.

With temperatures rising into the high 90s and possibly hitting 100 this week, the National Weather Service has issued a fire weather watch for Saturday.

“It’s exceptionally dry out there and with temperatures reaching the mid- to upper-90s over the next week, it’s especially important to pay attention to the weather conditions and adhere to the daily burn decisions,” said Jenna Kochenauer, Benton County Fire District 1’s public information officer.

Wildfire season

Along with managing 5.6 million acres of forest, range land, agricultural, aquatic and commercial lands, the Department of Natural Resources also owns a fleet 28 aircraft that will be stationed by July 1. That number is expected to rise to 37 by mid-July.

“We are already well-positioned and prepared for a significant fire season and so we’ve gotten really good at having all the resources available and under our exclusive use and control,” she said. “We are bracing for a pretty challenging fire season.”

A bill sponsored by state Rep. Mary Dye, R-Pomeroy, now allows local fire chiefs to directly ask for air support directly from the state.

Franz said the change lets them get aerial resources to fight wildfires much faster than they would if they had to ask for help from the federal government.

“Minutes count when a fire breaks out,” Dye said in a release announcing the approval of the bill. “If local fire districts can immediately begin using air support to attack a fire, it could be extinguished much quicker.”

This story was originally published June 30, 2023 at 11:16 AM with the headline "WA state preparing for ‘significant fire season.’ A Pasco plant is part of solution."