The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) authorized the use of federal funds to help with firefighting costs for several fires burning in Washington.
The funding will be used to help fight the Sinlahekin Fire burning in Okanogan County, the Fairview Fire burning in Steven County, and the Autumn Lane Fire burning in Spokane County.
These are the seventh, eighth, and ninth declarations in 2026 to help fight fires burning in our state.
The fires are threatening homes in and around Tonasket, Loomis, Mead, and Suncrest. The Sinlahekin Fire is also threatning state-owned dams, a wastewater treatment plant, raw water reservoirs, finished water systems, and microwave sites, as well as the Washington State University radio infrastructure and the Tonasket Police Department headquarters. The fire has damaged the major power transmission line that supplies power to approximately half of Okanagon County.
The Fairview Fire is threatening private utilities, the Bonneville Power Administration power lines, railway, and farms.
The Autumn Lane Fire is also threatening utilities, state and local parks, schools, a ranger station, fire district buildings, county microwave transmitters, a bridge, water district structures, grocery stores, and family care centers.
The approval makes funding available to pay up to 75 percent of a state’s eligible firefighting costs for fires that threaten to become major disasters. Eligible items can include expenses for field camps, equipment use, materials, supplies, and mobilization and demobilization activities attributed to fighting the fire.
These grants do not assist individual home or business owners and do not cover other infrastructure damage caused by the fire.
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