PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Governor Jay Inslee says over 600,000 acres have burning in the state of Washington in the last 5 days.
Inslee said 14 large fires are burning in the state. They are the most damaging in state history, except for 2015. He said he has been in touch with Governor Brown about the wildfires in Oregon.
“Right now we have a state that is just a tinderbox. And the reason is because of the low humidity, the high temperatures and obviously the winds,” Inslee said.
“These are not just wildfires. They are climate fires. And we can not, and we will not vendor our state and expose people to have their homes burn down and lives lost because of climate fires,” he said.
“We need to act and put people to work building clean energy jobs to fight climate change.”
Inslee urged Washingtonians to protect themselves from wildfire smoke and to stay home if they are not under evacuation orders.
In southwest Washington, residents are concerned with the Big Hollow Fire. Earlier in the week a wildfire destroyed the town of Malden, Washington.
