Washington state officials held a briefing on wildfires burning across eastern Washington as the flames forced people from their homes, according to coverage aired by FOX 26. Among those speaking were Governor Ferguson and the state coordinating officer for Washington Emergency Management, who laid out the response to the fires and the help being requested.
Officials said FEMA had approved a Fire Management Assistance Grant, which is helping with the costs of fire suppression. They said that, depending on what the damage turned out to be, they would have to assess it before requesting the next type of declaration, and that they would go back to FEMA in the following days if that was warranted.
Governor Ferguson said the state appreciated FEMA's assistance, adding that the agency had come through in a significant way during earlier historic flooding. He said the state had been actively pursuing further help and would make sure to maximize any appropriate requests to FEMA during what he called a really challenging time.
One of the fires, being fought by state crews and the Department of Natural Resources, was described as very active. According to the briefing, it had moved toward Highway 9, with numerous evacuations in place, and officials were asking people to move south and out of the area.
Officials then turned to the Little Giant Fire, northwest of Wenatchee, which they said was about 32,000 acres and had been burning for a little over a week. The fire was near Lake Chelan and, throughout the day, had burned significantly and made runs toward Lake Chelan.
South of the Little Giant Fire, officials said, there were literally hundreds of homes as well as a state park, all of which were currently being suppressed. They said the National Guard was mobilizing to that fire as they spoke, with a general set to provide more detail on the deployment.
On the National Guard, officials said units were based at Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane. Both of those units were available, they said, with additional resources to be made available in Spokane by 8 o'clock that night to get after the work overnight.
Officials also warned that the area was under a severe weather warning, and that a 'particularly dangerous situation' had been declared, which they described as a very rare thing, tied to the combination of drought and fuels. They said that when the state submitted its Fire Management Assistance Grant request around 3:30 that afternoon, more than 200 homes were known to be getting evacuated, stressing that the figure counted homes, not people, and that the numbers were changing quickly, with more updates expected from the county.