The Washington State Senate will vote soon on a comprehensive funding bill for wildfire prevention.

Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz says it's a significant bill designed to provide critical funding for wildfire response.

"The air resources, the firefighters, getting more equipment and personnel in our communities at our local fire districts who are first on the line. More funding for forest health so that we can actually restore the health of 1.2 million acres of forest in Central and Eastern Washington alone."

The bill has already passed out of the House unanimously and is currently in the Senate Rules Committee which is the final step before the floor.

The funding would also provide resources for community resilience like the recently launched Wildfire Ready programs.

"We can move the red communities, the ones that are at high wildfire risk, to green. The 2 million+ that are at risk in Washington State, we can give them the resources to protect themselves."

Franz says that even with proper funding, it will take coordinated efforts and time to improve the safety of our forests and homes from wildfires.

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