May is Wildfire Awareness Month, and the Bainbridge Island Fire Department has already begun planning efforts.

“Over the past five years, we’re seeing an increasing trend in the number of vegetation fires we’re responding to on the island,” BIFD chief Jared Moravec said.

In the coming months, BIFD plans to take delivery of a new fire apparatus, which the agency will use to help respond to wildfires, Moravec said.

In 2024, BIFD responded to 27 vegetation fires, he said.

“The fire department continues to offer individual, home and neighborhood Firewise assessments, where we will go out and do an evaluation and provide some recommendations,” Moravec said.

Steve Reedy, a meteorologist and fire weather program leader with the National Weather Service’s Seattle office, said the peak fire season for Western Washington typically runs from July through September. He said June can be an early indicator of wildfire conditions.

“If it’s a dry and warm June, that typically will give us a bit of an early start,” he said. “Whereas if we have a cool and wet June, that can actually give us a late start because any moisture that we accumulate in June will have to work its way out of the system in July before we get into the prime burning conditions.”

He noted that brush fires can have significant local impacts, including reduced visibility, reduced air quality and freeway closures.

The Department of Natural Resources responded to 65 fire incidents throughout Kitsap County between 2008 and 2024, DNR spokesperson Thomas Kyle-Milward wrote in an email. In 2024, the agency responded to four incidents in the county.

“Approximately 90 percent of wildfires every year are human-caused,” Kyle-Milward wrote. “That means we can play a small part in fighting wildfire each season—taking care while recreating, managing debris burns responsibly and in accordance with local and state burn regulations, and making sure we’re not creating a spark on the landscape during peak hot, dry ignition conditions.”

Moravec said in recent years, BIFD has received a Firewise Microgrant from DNR. The grant supports the annual Wildfire Mitigation Cleanup Weekend every May and funds roll-off dumpsters for neighborhoods to dispose of vegetation.

Last year, the Kitsap County Fire Marshal’s Office implemented one burn ban between mid-July and October, coinciding with the return of fall moisture, county fire marshal David Lynam wrote in an email.

“KCFMO investigates the origin and cause of wildfires in the unincorporated area and enforces the provisions of state adopted codes for construction in urban interface or other designated high wildfire potential areas,” he said.

Moravec encourages the public to familiarize themselves with Firewise principles as part of prevention and mitigation efforts. Firewise provides residents with steps they can take to stay safe and reduce fire risk.

“The old phrase goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. And that’s it,” Reedy said. “If you can minimize your fire danger, then I’d rather carry a bucket of water than suddenly have to have an entire squad of firefighters move in.”

To learn more about Firewise, visit BIFD to learn more www.bifd.org/firewise.