WA wildfire information: What’s the difference between a controlled and a contained fire?
Wildfire season is in full swing in Washington State, with multiple active wildfires currently blazing across the state. With the Roza Creek fire that just burned near Yakima, the Tunnel Five fire burning near the state border and the Gold Mountain Ridge fire on the Colville Reservation, multiple regions of Washington are getting hit.
Even western Washington, generally known for its cool, damp climate, is battling fires now. The McEwan fire near Shelton is over 250 acres, with 0% containment reported.
All of these fires also means plenty of terminology used by officials to share updates with the public, which can be confusing if definitions aren’t explained.
Here are a few key phrases.
Contained vs. controlled fires
What does 0% contained even mean? Fire containment refers to the perimeter, not the full fire. The responding firefighters will work to implement control lines, which are man-made barriers that cannot catch fire. Sometimes this is done by removing all burnable material, but it often includes digging a pit as well. This way, the fire has no way of growing past the control line.
A fire’s containment percentage reflects how much of its perimeter has effective control lines in place. In lieu of a large gust of wind or some other severe complication, firefighters can be confident the fire will not grow past a control barrier.
When a fire is entirely contained, the fire will have nowhere to go. Fire crews can then work to extinguish the existing flames without unmanageable spread. Once the fire has burned out or been mostly extinguished, it is considered controlled. A controlled fire may still have hot spots or embers, but it is no longer a public safety issue. Fire crews will remain on scene for clean up, until the fire is officially out.
A fire is considered out when there are no signs of smoke or fire activity.
Why is the McEwan fire still 0%?
The McEwan fire has been consistently reported at 0% containment, despite updates from the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) on July 5 that the fire had not spread past control lines. If control lines are in place, and the fire isn’t growing past it, isn’t that contained?
Not yet, according to Janet Pearce, Communications Manager for DNR. The current control lines are minimal, and crews are currently expanding these lines. Pearce said in an interview with McClatchy that the first step is digging a hand line, a pit about the size of a hand, around the fire. Once the hand line encompassed the fire’s perimeter, crews began working to strengthen the control lines.
The control lines aren’t developed enough for crews to consider the fire as contained, even though the fire is enclosed within the hand lines. It has yet to grow past the hand lines, but crews are still working to strengthen the barrier. As the control lines grow even more effective, containment numbers will be updated.
Pearce estimates containment numbers will be updated before Friday, July 7.
