Wildfire coordination efforts for about half the state are based out of Pangborn Memorial Airport.
“We take initial reports of fires and dispatch fire resources accordingly,” said Jim Duck, assistant center manager at the Central Washington Interagency Community Communications Center. It’s a cooperative effort of the Department of Natural Resources, Bureau of Land Management, Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest and Mid-Columbia National Wildlife Refuge Complex (U.S. Fish and Wildlife). The wildland firefighting dispatch center covers 22 million acres across 17 counties.
“We manage the smoke jumper base in Winthrop, the rappellers in Wenatchee, the retardant ships in Moses Lake and engines and hand crews throughout the whole area,” Duck said.
During the winter, five people are on staff, mostly planning for the coming fire season.