Snoqualmie Fire Chief on interactive fire map: “It’s more real-time”

As wildfires continue burning across western Washington, local firefighters are asking the public to use a recently-released tool by the Western Fire Chiefs Association (WFCA).

The WFCA Fire Map shows active and recent woodland fires in the western United States and Alaska.

“It’s more real time. It’s the most up-to-date information that a community or resident can get through a phone application,” Snoqualmie Fire Chief Mark Correira said.

While information is available online, Correira said “it does take time for that information to get up on the web.”

The WFCA Fire Map uses 911 dispatch call data from Pulse Point, along with location/boundary data from the National Interagency Fire Center’s IRWIN feeds.

“When I moved out here 25 years ago, we were not dealing with smoke inundation. We were not dealing with wildland fires in western Washington. It’s just part of the new normal up here that we’re preparing ourselves for and just getting ready for next year. Because we aren’t sure what’s going to happen,” Correira said.

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