WA lawmaker seeks to make temporary early wildfire air support program permanent

MOSES LAKE – An Eastern Washington lawmaker is leading a bipartisan effort through House Bill 2104 to make a temporary wildfire program permanent.

Rep. Tom Dent (R-Moses Lake) explains the policy allows rural fire departments to request early aircraft support, preventing costly state mobilizations.

“These small rural fire departments can call, and they can request, air asset support to come in when a fire begins and, quite often, we can knock these fires down really fast,” he said.

Dent said the policy has strong support from fire chiefs and rural districts across the state. He adds the goal during this legislative session is simple: keep the program in place before it expires. The 2026 session begins Jan. 12.

EMG photo by Dan Thesman

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Elkhorn Media Group