How Science Is Fighting Wilder Wildfires Than Ever Before

In the midst of a nightmarish wildfire season, scientists are often the only barrier between life and death.

- Kyle Dickman

AT 6 A.M. ON AUGUST 19, JULIA RUTHFORD WALKS ONTO A MAKESHIFT STAGE IN A TENT CITY THAT’S SPRUNG UP IN CHELAN FALLS PARK, THREE HOURS EAST OF SEATTLE. A HUNDRED AND FIFTY FIREFIGHTERS, WEARING T-SHIRTS RINGED WITH DRIED SWEAT AND SMELLING OF SMOKE, WAIT TO HEAR WHAT THE DAY WILL HOLD.

Some chew tobacco. Some sip coffee from Styrofoam cups. A few hack dry coughs. The group is worn thin. For the past 22 days, many have worked 16-hour shifts fighting a group of wildfires outside Chelan, a 4,000-person town. As of that morning, 500 square miles of Washington are burning. 

“It’s another critical weather event,” Ruthford says into a microphone. A National Weather Service meteorologist, Ruthford’s responsible for a daily morning briefing, with a detailed forecast for the wildfires known as the Chelan complex. Smoke has socked in camp, and she’s issued a Red Flag Warning signifying dry and unstable conditions, ideal for the rapid spread of fire.

“Expect the winds to get squirrely in here along the bend,” Ruthford says. She runs a finger along the ridges by a lake on the camp’s map. “Winds will start shifting from the south to the northwest after 15:00.”