King County emergency management outlines wildfire, smoke and heat preparations, urges public to sign up for alerts

Emergency Management Director Bridal McCluskey briefed the King County Transportation, Economy and Environment Committee on May 20 on wildfire risk, smoke health impacts and extreme heat preparation as part of the executive's 200-day plan.

McCluskey said the county is developing a Community Wildfire Protection Plan and running public outreach this spring and summer to reduce wildfire risk, improve evacuation communications and expand preparedness resources across jurisdictions.

The briefing matters because more than 352,000 King County residents live where forests and urban areas meet (the wildland-urban interface), the director said, and wildfire, smoke and heat risks have grown regionally. The county aims to align the CWPP with existing plans and coordinate with cities, tribes, fire agencies and state and federal partners.

"May is Wildfire Awareness Month and this is a timely presentation," McCluskey said. She told the committee the Community Wildfire Protection Plan will include a wildfire hazard map, recommended risk-reduction actions by area, implementation steps and tools residents can use to protect homes.

McCluskey framed the CWPP as one element of a broader set of county strategies: the King County Wildfire Risk Reduction Strategy, the King County Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan and the King County Strategic Climate Action Plan. She said the county held partner workshops in early May, launched a public survey on May 1, and aims to finish the CWPP by the end of the year to align with the executive's 200-day plan.

On causes and timing, McCluskey said wildfire season in the Pacific Northwest is generally late summer and early fall, with National Interagency Fire Center and National Weather Service outlooks showing elevated risk for July and August and the most critical fire weather from August through September in recent years. She noted that between 85 and 90 percent of wildfires in Washington are caused by humans, intentionally or inadvertently.

The director described Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) as a utility tool the county has discussed with Seattle City Light, Puget Sound Energy and the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission to reduce fire ignitions under extreme conditions. She said counties are working with utilities and regulators to coordinate implementation if needed.

McCluskey also discussed smoke and health: wildfire smoke raises fine particulate concentrations and can aggravate respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses, with older adults, children, pregnant people and those with lung or heart disease most at risk. She cited a University of Washington health-impact assessment that linked a large smoke episode to an estimated 92 excess deaths in the region for a similar event.

On heat, McCluskey described the county's heat mitigation strategy (published 2024) and use of the National Weather Service's HeatRisk tool, which issues location- and date-specific thresholds. She said extreme-heat impacts are concentrated in areas with low tree canopy and higher shares of low-income residents and that heat-related economic losses in Washington are currently estimated in the low hundreds of millions annually.

The county's emergency role, McCluskey said, is public messaging, coordination of alerts through Alert King County, convening public information officers across jurisdictions, activating the regional emergency operations center as needed and working with public health and community partners on targeted outreach (including to people experiencing homelessness).

Committee members pressed on federal engagement, outreach to people experiencing homelessness, and the adequacy of local firefighting capacity. McCluskey replied that the county partners with the state and federal agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service, that outreach to unhoused people is coordinated with Public Health, Department of Community and Human Services and the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, and that local fire agencies conduct regular wildfire trainings and provide mutual aid across the state.

McCluskey summarized preparedness actions the public can take: sign up for Alert King County, follow burn bans and National Weather Service red-flag warnings, build defensible space, prepare a go kit and check on neighbors. She also described the Ready, Set, Go evacuation-level messaging the county is promoting regionally.

The committee did not take formal action on the briefing; McCluskey's presentation was informational and the county will continue outreach and interagency work on the CWPP, public education, and implementation of heat and smoke playbooks.

The committee thanked McCluskey and moved to other agenda items.