Wildland firefighters from around the region will gather Tuesday in Vancouver to prepare for the upcoming fire season.
Drought and dry conditions around the Pacific Northwest are raising concerns that this fire season could be brutal.
Washington state has already declared drought in three regions.
The Oregon Drought Council approved three additional counties, and following approval from Gov. Kate Brown, it would expand the number of counties seeking assistance to five.
Increasingly dry conditions and low snowpack have fire officials concerned about the upcoming summer that could bring big fires.
Dan O’Brien is the center manager at the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center, which assists in fire response around the Pacific Northwest.
“(The) climate is setting us up to have a very bad fire season should all the elements line up,” he said.
But O’Brien said it’s still too early to know how the season will play out.
Last year was the Pacific Northwest’s second worst fire season on record.
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