Hilary Franz: Reflecting on the Labor Day Firestorm of 2020

Hilary Franz was the 16th Washington State Commissioner of Public Lands from 2017 to 2025.

Today (September 1) marks five years since the devastating Labor Day Firestorm of 2020 swept through Washington State — one of the most destructive wildfire events in our state’s history. And a day I will never forget.

In just 72 hours, over 600,000 acres burned. Entire communities like Malden and Pine City lost 80% of their homes and structures in just a few hours. Hundreds of homes were lost. Families displaced. Lives forever changed. And we lost a little boy’s life as his family tried to outrun the Cold Spring fire.

It was a wake-up call.

But it was also a turning point.

After that fire season, I swore Washington would never go through another season without the resources it needed to fight these fires and protect our communities.

Since then, Washington changed its model on aviation resources and made its largest investment $500 million in wildfire response, landscape resilience, and community resilience.

• We doubled down in our forest health and fire resilience to achieve our 20-Year Forest Health Strategic Plan in just 19 years.
• We expanded our aviation assets from 12 to over 40, and we accelerated response times through adoption of HB1498. No longer are we waiting in line for authorization and federal assets—our aircraft are ready, and ours to command.
• We quadrupled our firefighting capacity, including year-round fire crews and increased our ground equipment.
• We invested in new technologies from rapid detection with Pano AI cameras to back burning firefighting drones. The result? Faster response times.
• We improved coordination between state, tribal, local, and federal agencies.
• We built Wildfire Ready Neighbors, launching a Community-based programs to create fire-adapted communities and defensible space in every corner of the state.

The results speak for themselves— for the last four years our state has contained 95% of our fires to under 10 acres.

These improvements don’t undo the loss — but they honor it.

They reflect a commitment to learning, adapting, and acting faster and smarter in the face of increasing wildfires, a rapid need to make our forests and communities more resilient, and a changing climate.

As we remember the impact of September 2020, let’s also acknowledge the progress and the people — from firefighters on the front lines to policymakers, foresters, forest landowners, and local leaders — working every day to make Washington and our country safer and more resilient. 

And let’s work to keep on improving our technologies and innovations, our investments and response and our investments in our landscapes and communities. Time is not on our side, and we must use this moment to remember the work that remains.

#HilaryFranz