When smoke rolled over the Olympic Peninsula this July, families in Mason County packed bags by the door and watched the sky turn an eerie shade of orange. The Bear Gulch Fire wasn’t just another headline—it was a reminder that wildfire has arrived in Western Washington.”
In July, smoke drifted across the Olympic Peninsula and turned the skies over Puget Sound a hazy orange. The Bear Gulch Fire near Lake Cushman forced families to evacuate and has already burned more than 9,000 acres. It is the largest fire on the Olympic Peninsula since the 1950s, made worse by the fact that it was human-caused.
For years, many people in Western Washington considered wildfire an “East side” problem, something that occurred in Yakima or Spokane, rather than in Mason, Kitsap, or Thurston counties. But our summers are hotter, our forests are drier, and the risks are growing. The lesson from Bear Gulch is clear: wildfire is part of life here now, and every community needs to be ready.
Just a few years ago, Washington made significant strides in wildfire management. After the devastating 2020 season—when 842,000 acres burned and smoke choked the state for weeks—lawmakers passed House Bill 1168, the Wildfire Response, Forest Restoration and Community Resilience Act.
That bipartisan plan promised $125 million every two years for wildfire response and prevention. The money strengthened Department of Natural Resources fire crews, kept state aircraft on standby for rapid response, introduced new technology like infrared cameras to spot fires at night, and supported forest thinning and prescribed burns to reduce dangerous fuels. It also provided grants to landowners to help them clear brush and improve the management of their forests.
The results were dramatic. By 2024, the number of acres burned dropped to 311,000. For four years in a row, Washington managed to keep 95 percent of wildfires to ten acres or less in size. This was prevention in action.
Now, that progress is in jeopardy. In this year’s budget, lawmakers slashed wildfire funding from $125 million to just $60 million for the next two years—$40 million for fiscal year 2026 and $20 million for fiscal year 2027.
DNR says the cuts will eliminate 120 firefighter positions and reduce the state’s ability to thin forests, carry out prescribed burns, and maintain readiness.
State Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove has been blunt:
“If next year’s supplemental budget does not restore some of that funding, we’re going to see more fires like this. They’re going to be larger, and they’re going to cost the taxpayers a lot more money in the back end.”
Everyone in rural Washington knows fire is part of summer. Heat dries the land, lightning strikes, and small mistakes spark blazes. But when prevention programs are strong, flames are caught early. When they’re weak, small fires grow into disasters. And disasters always cost more—both in money and in lives.
In July, Upthegrove toured Okanogan County, one of the regions hardest hit by wildfire, and saw firsthand how prevention makes a difference. Forests that had been thinned and cleared with prescribed burns survived recent fires, while untreated stands burned hot and fast as flames raced through dry fuel. Later, at a roundtable with farmers, utilities, and conservation districts, one message stood out: prevention pays, but it only works with steady, reliable funding.
It Takes a Village to Prevent Wildfire
Wildfire doesn’t stop at property lines. Your neighbor’s brush pile or wooden fence can threaten your house—and your brush pile can threaten theirs. That’s why community work matters.
Some neighborhoods are joining the Firewise USA® program, which helps residents organize brush-clearing days, chip yard debris, and plan for emergencies. Even small efforts—like mowing a roadside ditch—can slow a fire and give firefighters valuable time.
Homeowners can take practical steps to make their properties more resistant to embers. The most important area is the first five feet around the house, often referred to as the defensible space. Think of this zone as a fire moat: replace bark mulch with gravel or stone, keep shrubs, tall grass, and wood piles away from siding, and clear out dead leaves, pine needles, and other debris regularly.
Hardening the home itself also makes a difference. Old wood shake roofs should be upgraded to safer materials such as metal, tile, or asphalt shingles. Gutters need to be cleaned regularly, and open eaves can be enclosed with soffits, while vents should be covered with fine metal mesh to block sparks. Windows and skylights are another weak point; therefore, double-pane tempered glass and glass skylights are much safer than single-pane windows or plastic alternatives.
The landscaping surrounding a home can either fuel a fire or slow it down. Highly flammable plants, such as juniper, arborvitae, and eucalyptus, should be avoided. Safer choices include Oregon grape, kinnikinnick, salal, sedum, or lavender. Trees should be trimmed so branches don’t touch the roof, and lower limbs should be raised six to ten feet from the ground.
Finally, homeowners should look for common ember traps around their property. Flower boxes under windows, lattice beneath decks, stacks of firewood leaning against walls, gutters packed with leaves, and even open car windows in the driveway can all give embers a place to land and ignite. Cleaning, moving, or covering these hazards closes the gaps before sparks find them.
When it comes to wildfires, there’s no substitute for public investments
Private action is critical, but no amount of yard work replaces the need for public investment. Washington’s wildfire program has been one of the state’s best success stories in the last decade. Letting it falter now is shortsighted.
That’s why rural residents must raise their voices. Call or email your state representatives. Show up at town halls. Tell them to restore wildfire funding in next year’s supplemental budget. The more lawmakers hear from rural communities, the harder it is to ignore.
The Greenacres Fire in Okanogan County burned more than 1,000 acres and destroyed seven homes just a week after Upthegrove toured local prevention projects. It was a painful reminder that fire doesn’t wait for politics to catch up.
The Bear Gulch Fire, Greenacres Fire, and dozens of smaller blazes prove the stakes.
Wildfire will always be part of Washington. The choice is whether we face it prepared or unprepared.
Readiness doesn’t mean living in fear. It means being thoughtful, steady, and willing to act—at home, with your neighbors, and at the state level.
Start small: clear the first five feet, clean the gutters, and talk with your neighbors. Then go bigger: show up, speak out, and make sure Olympia keeps prevention a priority.
Because in the end, protecting homes, families, and communities isn’t just about what happens when flames arrive. It’s about what we, as a community, choose to do before they come.
