Crews near Twisp were working to protect homes on a dead-end road when they were overrun by a wildfire in 2015.
Three U.S. Forest Service firefighters died that day, leading to a first-of-its-kind examination of the event and, potentially, new guidelines about the lengths to which crews should go to protect rural homes.
“Unless we improve the way we fight fire, the lethality demonstrated here may continue to increase in probability,” the “after-action review” states.
Former state Lands Commissioner Peter Goldmark said in a December interview that Washington needs to better prepare communities and landscapes for fire.