Fire agencies would rather check out false alarms than have something go unreported

Request issued by Department of Natural Resources, LCN File Photo (2018) Courtesy of Cappy Peterson

In spite of the recent rain showers and lower temperatures, fire season in the Pacific Northwest is approaching a hot and dry, extremely volatile period of time when heat, humidity, and thunderstorm can often collide.

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the lead firefighting agency in the state, along with their partners at local and regional fire agencies encourage you to report anything that may possibly be smoke.

“Sometimes people are embarrassed if it turns out to be a false alarm, or they assume someone else has already reported it,” says one fire fighter. But the DNR recently released a public request for early warning tips saying, “We would rather check out false alarms or the same incident multiple times than have something go unreported.”

They indicated fire agencies need the public’s help to detect and notify authorities of fires, saying “it takes all of us to prevent and detect wildfires.”

Additional information can be found on the DNR Website.

About the DNR:

We are Washington state’s largest on-call fire department. Our 1,500 permanent and temporary employees fight fires on more than 13 million acres of private and state-owned forest lands. Our fire protection and safety equipment requirements help your local fire district respond to wildfires.