Obama approves federal emergency aid for Washington wildfires

Julie Kliegman's avatar
By
published
Washington wildfires
(Image credit: Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)

President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency in Washington on Friday, allotting federal disaster relief funds for the wildfires burning across rural areas of the state. The declaration also allows for federal support on the ground in providing food, debris removal, and grief counseling. Washington also called in the National Guard.

The fires, which killed three firefighters Wednesday, have burned nearly 500,000 acres. Evacuation orders are in place in at least six towns. The Seattle Times reports it's the worst fire season in state history.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Julie Kliegman
Julie Kliegman

Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.