Agency personnel and equipment are currently deployed in Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, North Carolina and South Carolina
information released
As wildfire activity begins to pick up across the country, Department of Natural Resources (DNR) fire personnel are maintaining important partnerships and getting some valuable preseason training in by responding to out-of-state assignments.
“Wildland fire is a tight-knit interagency community of local, state and federal responders that share resources and look out for one another,” said George Geissler, DNR’s State Forester and Deputy Supervisor responsible for Wildland Fire Management. “We know that the states we’re working in right now will likely have personnel and equipment of their own right here in Washington state during our peak months of July and August.”
Currently, more than 55 agency firefighters, leadership personnel and multiple strike teams of engines are deployed across Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, North Carolina and South Carolina. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, 28 large uncontained fires are burning nationwide, with 22 of those being in the southern geographic area. So far in 2025, more than 14,800 wildfires have burned some 700,000 acres across the United States – well above the 10-year averages of 8,773 wildfires and 617,931 acres.
“As the state wildland fire agency, it’s important to do our part here at home but also to assist our friends and neighbors when needed,” Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove said. “Washingtonians are no strangers to the destructive impacts of wildfire – and I’m proud of all the DNR staff making a difference for our sister states right now.”
