After two consecutive years in which wildfires set acreage records in Washington state, this fire season has been very light. In fact, wildfires have been smaller and less destructive in Washington, Oregon and Idaho this year thanks to a heavy winter snowpack and some rain in the spring and summer months.
Firefighters are cautiously optimistic the fire season might be drawing to an early close as fall approaches.
"When you get into fall weather, temperatures are cooler and the humidity goes up, especially at night," said Jessica Gardetto, a spokeswoman for the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. "That tends to help bring the fire season to a close."
As of Aug. 31, 432,129 acres had burned this season in the three Northwestern states, Gardetto said. At the same date last year, 743,882 acres had burned, Gardetto said.
By the time fire season ended last year, on Sept. 30, more than 1.1 million acres had burned, she said.
"We're actually having a 'normal' fire season," Gardetto said. "Normal means that we're still having fires, but they're not as large, there aren't as many, fire behavior is not as extreme."
That's in sharp contrast to Southern California, where the fire season has been very active, she said.