Last week, the National Interagency Fire Center released its assessment of wildfire potential across the country; the map showed virtually the entire state of Washington at an above normal level.
Yesterday, the wildfire issue was the subject of a hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in Washington, DC. And Senator Maria Cantwell spoke about the danger facing our state:
During the hearing, Cantwell pressed Forest Service Official Jaelith Hall-Rivera on the need to improve coordination between the various agencies that fight wildfires to ensure faster response times:
Cantwell also stressed the need to increase prescribed burns in the forest:
The Forest Service's Hall-Rivera responded:
The hearing took place in a smoky nation's capital, as the East Coast has had a taste of the smoke we've dealt with in the summer for several years, thanks to the wildfires in Quebec.
