On Friday, Aug. 2, Gov. Jay Inslee issued his fourth emergency proclamation of the year, this time in response to the wildfires that have spread across Washington state this summer. The proclamation hopes to get firefighters more access to fuel, while authorizing state agencies to aim more resources at combating fires. Here’s what you need to know.
Proclamation waives hour of service requirements
The proclamation aims to get more fuel to firefighters across the state. Under the proclamation, restrictions to the number of hours that delivery drivers can work won’t apply to drivers delivering fuel to firefighters through August 16.
According to Elizabeth King, energy resilience and emergency management director at the Washington State Department of Commerce, the waiver aims primarily to get more fuel to aircrafts used for fighting fires.
“Typically, the airports and other aviation staging areas receive fuel deliveries once a week and are located in more remote areas of the state that have long driving times to the local fuel pick-up and delivery locations,” King said in a statement emailed to McClatchy. “With the increase in demand, these deliveries, on average, are now occurring every other day.”
King, who requested the waiver from the governor’s office, said that the proclamation should ease the flow of fuel, especially to remote launch areas.
“The hour of service waiver will allow drivers delivering fuel in support of firefighting activities to be on the road longer to get to these more remote locations more often, as long as they are in compliance with the safety requirements, including in the emergency proclamation,” King said.
Even with the exemption, companies still have to respect drivers who are too sick or tired to operate a truck and drivers who request rest. They also can’t ask a driver to work for more than 96 hours over an eight day period, unless they’ve gotten 34 straight hours of rest.
What else does the emergency proclamation do?
The proclamation has other effects as well. First of all, it allows the state to implement its Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan. It also instructs state government agencies to use “state resources and to do everything reasonably possible” to help affected local governments respond to the wildfires.
Lastly, the proclamation orders that the State Guard and National Guard help combat the fires in whatever ways are deemed necessary by the Washington Military Department.
Wildfires in Washington this year
According to a collaborative state government online database, there have been nine wildfires in Washington this year that have burned over 1,000 acres. The Swawilla Fire in eastern Washington and the Big Horn Fire in southern Washington have burned over 50,000 acres apiece.
According to the state’s Department of Natural Resources, Washington has seen 265,000 acres burn due to wildfires statewide this year. Currently, the are five active large wildfires in the state, according to DNR.
You can find updated information on the state’s wildfires on DNR’s online dashboard.
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