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Pierce County proclaims May Wildfire Awareness Month; chiefs warn Western Washington is now at risk
Summary
The Pierce County Council proclaimed May 2025 Wildfire Awareness Month and officials warned that Western Washington faces large wildfire risk, recounting the Sumner Grade Fire and urging residents to sign up for PC Alert and follow Ready, Set, Go evacuation levels.
The Pierce County Council on Tuesday proclaimed May 2025 as Wildfire Awareness Month and heard testimony from local fire and emergency-management officials who urged residents to prepare for wildfire and smoke.
The proclamation notes increasing wildfire risk in Washington, cites last decade’s changing fire weather and references the September 2020 Sumner Grade Fire, which officials said burned more than 500 acres, destroyed homes and led to large evacuations.
East Pierce Fire and Rescue Chief John Parkinson, speaking as president of the Pierce County Fire Chiefs Association, recounted operational and infrastructure challenges during the Sumner Grade Fire. "What Sumner Grade Fire showed us is that Western Washington is not immune from large scale wildfires," he said, adding that resource shortages meant the incident was effectively managed with local resources for "roughly 2 to 3 days" until state mobilization arrived.
Parkinson described cascading infrastructure impacts during the incident, including multi-day Internet and cell-phone outages when generator backups failed, which hampered communications and resource requests.
The council also heard from R. L. Soli, director of the Department of Emergency Management, who emphasized community preparedness and an evacuation framework used in Pierce County: "It's level 1 is be ready, level 2 is be set, and level 3 is go now." Soli encouraged residents to sign up for PC Alert to receive evacuation notices and other emergency messages.
James Moore of the Pierce Conservation District described local outreach and partnerships with the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department and the Department of Natural Resources, and urged continued council support for preparedness and public education.
Council members used the proclamation event to emphasize that many residents remain surprised by wildfire risk in Western Washington and that preparedness — including defensible space, evacuation planning and community coordination — remains a priority. Several council members thanked emergency-management staff for public outreach and stressed the role of local conservation and health partners.
The proclamation cites Washington State Department of Natural Resources figures that officials summarized in the meeting: DNR has stated about 85% of wildfires are human-caused and roughly 52% are negligently or intentionally started. The resolution also endorses active forest management techniques such as thinning and prescribed burns to reduce fuel loads.
The proclamation is honorary; it does not itself create a funding appropriation. Emergency managers asked residents to use PC Alert and take household preparedness steps ahead of the summer season.
