Most of Cowlitz County and SW Washington is at a VERY HIGH Fire Danger Rating for Friday and Saturday. Washington Department of Natural Resources in correlation with
County Fire Marshals advise “When the fire danger is "very high", fires will start easily from most causes. The fires will spread rapidly and have a quick increase in intensity, right
after ignition. Small fires can quickly become large fires and exhibit extreme fire intensity, such as long-distance spotting and fire whirls”.
Temperatures will be in the high 80s/low 90s throughout the weekend. Although temperatures are a concern, the larger threat is the low humidity and strong east winds. Combine
that with the extremely low moisture content of surface fuels and any small spark could become dangerous immediately. Small fuels such as grass and small bushes, also referred
to as 10-hour fuels, have a moisture content under 10% in most of SW Washington. Moisture content under 10% indicates “ready to burn”. We cannot stress enough how important
it is to understand the fire potential with the combination of these conditions.
Please remain vigilant for any kind of fire activity. Besides the obvious of anything involving a flame, vehicles or equipment that are parked on grass (of any length) could potentially
cause ignition, chainsaws, loose chains on boats or trailers, or in some cases even mowing could be sources of spark and/or ignition. Lightning could spark a fire although lightning
occurrence is considered low with this system.
Gusty, strong easterly winds will boost the spread potential of any new and existing fires. Gusty winds could begin as early as overnight tonight, but the strongest winds will be
Friday evening to Saturday morning.
Smoke – there is a possibility from fires that are already burning, and/or potential new fires, that smoke and air quality could be affected. Air quality can be monitored at
www.airnow.gov .
Bottom line, just in case we haven’t emphasized it enough – Fire Danger is VERY HIGH. Be safe!
Original source can be found here.
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