Firefighters and apparatus from four Lewis County departments have joined regional strike teams as part of coordinated wildfire suppression efforts in Eastern Washington.
According to Lewis County officials, the Chehalis Fire Department, the Riverside Fire Authority, Lewis County Fire District 1 and Lewis County Fire District 5 have each deployed a brush truck and personnel to help stop the Sinlahekin Fire and the Little Giant Fire.
The Sinlahekin Fire, located near Tonasket, had grown to roughly 85,000 acres as of Monday, while The Little Giant Fire, located near Leavenworth, had grown to over 51,000 acres.
The crews joined their regional teams on Thursday, July 30.
The collaboration is possible through Washington state’s Fire Mobilization Plan, which allows agencies to respond to wildfires outside their jurisdictions. The agencies ensure their local districts remain protected through mutual aid agreements.
The deployed firefighters work under their respective incident management teams led by the state Department of Natural Resources. The local agencies are then reimbursed by the state for their services.
The West Thurston Regional Fire Authority also deployed one rig to the Little Giant Fire on Friday.
“We couldn’t be more proud of our crews for stepping up at a moment’s notice for deployment,” West Thurston Fire said Friday on Facebook.
In a Thursday news release, Lewis County Resource Mobilization Coordinator and Chehalis Fire Department Chief Adam Fulbright said such deployments “demonstrate the strength of Washington’s mutual aid system.”
“When wildfire activity exceeds local resources, fire agencies from across the state come together to support one another,” Fulbright said. “We are proud of the firefighters and departments answering the call while continuing to ensure emergency response capabilities remain available here in Lewis County.”
The deployments came before a series of new fires exploded in the Spokane area over the weekend.
