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Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at a news conference highlighting California\u2019s investments in fire prevention and firefighting technology at Sacramento McClellan Airport in Sacramento on Tuesday, July 21, 2026. Newsom announced Cal Fire\u2019s deployment in Washington this week.<\/p>\n
ZIYU JULIAN ZHU<\/p>\n
julian.zhu@sacbee.com<\/p>\n
Cal Fire\u2019s Incident Management Team 4 is heading to rural Okanogan County, Washington, on Thursday to help manage a wildfire as the state grapples with an \u201cunprecedentedly high volume of fires this season,\u201d according to the Washington Department of Natural Resources.<\/p>\n
Washington requested the team\u2019s assistance under the Northwest Compact Agreement<\/a>, a longstanding mutual aid pact that allows participating states and provinces to share personnel, equipment and other firefighting resources when local capabilities are exceeded, according to a Wednesday news release from Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s office.<\/p>\n The Sinlahekin Fire<\/a> ignited from a lightning strike Sunday and grew to more than 8,500 acres within three days, according to the release.<\/p>\n Isabelle Hoygaard, a qualified expert with the Washington Department of Natural Resources, said there is nothing extraordinary about the Sinlahekin Fire itself. She said firefighters across the state have been stretched thin by the sheer number of wildfires burning this summer, prompting Washington to request California\u2019s assistance.<\/p>\n Cal Fire\u2019s incident management teams, with their embedded meteorologists and cutting-edge technology, bring more \u201cexpertise and sophistication\u201d than Washington\u2019s local teams have, Hoygaard said.<\/p>\n The California team is expected to shadow local firefighters Friday before taking command Saturday morning, Hoygaard said. Okanogan County\u2019s northern boundary is the Canadian border. The Sinlahekin Fire is in central Okanogan County.<\/p>\n \u201cWildfires do not recognize boundaries, nor does our shared commitment to helping one another,\u201d Cal Fire Director Joe Tyler said in the release. \u201cOur Incident Management Teams are among the most experienced in the world, and we are proud to support our partners in Washington as they work to protect lives, communities, and natural resources.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Newsom\u2019s office, the deployment marks the first time a Cal Fire incident management team has been mobilized to Washington under the Northwest Compact Agreement. California has sent firefighting resources to Colorado and Oregon this year and is providing technical assistance and training to French emergency officials responding to wildfires.<\/p>\n Since 2020, Cal Fire\u2019s incident management teams have been activated 65 times.<\/p>\n California will continue to provide mutual aid to other states as climate-driven wildfires grow larger and more destructive, while \u201cfederal disaster leadership and long\u2011term recovery support have not kept pace with the scale of the crisis,\u201d according to the press release.<\/p>\n \u201cCalifornia isn\u2019t sitting on the sidelines,\u201d Newsom said in the release. \u201cWe\u2019ve built the technology, the staffing, and the capacity not just to fight our own fires, but to send help when our neighbors are in trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n
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