New legislation to prevent the spread of wildfire and protect emergency responders has passed the Washington House of Representatives on a total majority vote.
House Bill 1784 (HB1784) would require the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to change the way it administers forest health treatment plans to specifically include strategic wildfire prevention, especially for the creation of prevention corridors. The measure also mandates that DNR supply wildland firefighters with information about these corridors when they are responding to a wildfire.
“I sponsored a bill last year that directed DNR to prioritize forest health treatments to specific tracts of land,” said Rep. Joel Kretz in a press release. “The idea being, we shouldn’t wait until the fire is at our backs – literally – to think about creating firebreaks. If we can begin that process now, firefighters have a better chance to stop catastrophic fires from spreading and we can better protect those in the field.”