As Kittitas County begins to experience the first wildfires of the 2020 season, local first responders are up to the task of ensuring they are dealt with in an expeditious manner.
Although the county saw a relatively mild fire season in 2019, Kittitas Valley Fire and Rescue Chief John Sinclair said the conditions this year suggest that we will not see a repeat of last season.
“Anybody that works in a wildland environment always says that they’ll tell you the outcome of fire season in October, but everything is lining up for us to have an active season,” he said. “What we haven’t seen that we have seen in years past is the weather-related fires.” Sinclair said some of the factors that have helped the county last season came as a result of certain actions that were put into place to avert disaster.