Wildfire prevention

Fire Weather

Warm, dry and windy conditions are forecasted for eastern Washington, including the Kittitas Valley, over the weekend.

As part of PSE’s wildfire safe operations, we will be turning on system settings in the affected areas. These settings, which are more sensitive to potential hazards like a tree branch touching a power line, will stay in place as long as high wildfire risk conditions are present.

Enhanced Powerline Settings are designed to help keep you safe, but they may result in unplanned power outages. This is not a Public Safety Power Shutoff, where we proactively turn off power in advance of severe weather.   

For more information or to report a power outage, visit PSE’s Outage map.

PSE takes a holistic approach to the evolving risk of wildfires by operating and improving our infrastructure to create an electric system that is reliable, resilient, and above all, safe.

PSE's Wildfire Risk Management Program includes our year-round work to reduce wildfire risk by:

Investing in projects to strengthen our infrastructure.
Utilizing real-time data and new technologies to enhance situational awareness.
Operating the electric system more conservatively during wildfire season to keep communities safe.
Partnering with emergency responders, local organizations, and our customers to build more resilient communities.

Read our current Wildfire Mitigation Plan for more details.

Year-round prevention efforts

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Vegetation management

Trees and other vegetation that grow too close to power lines can cause power outages and create a potential hazard, so PSE’s Vegetation Management program inspects and trim trees along 3,000 miles of power lines each year, including over 1,000 miles of lines in high wildfire risk areas.

Pre-season patrols and maintenance

We inspect high-risk lines annually to identify damage that may have occurred during winter storm season and perform maintenance before wildfire season. Crews inspect power lines and equipment from vehicles, on foot, and in some areas using unmanned aerial vehicles (drones). This work, typically conducted between February and June, helps reduce wildfire risk and keeps our customers and communities safe.

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Strengthening the grid

PSE replaces and upgrades equipment to improve reliability and help prevent wildfires, including regularly inspecting and replacing poles, wires and other equipment, installing "tree wire" (specially coated overhead wire that helps prevent sparks), and strategically undergrounding power lines.

Learn more about our work in Kittitas County.

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Wildfire safe operations

PSE monitors real-time conditions and will operate our electric system more conservatively during wildfire season. When there's dangerous fire weather conditions, we may turn on Enhanced Powerline Settings (EPS) or use a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) to help keep our customers and communities safe. These measures may result in outages. For more information or to report a power outage, visit PSE's Outage map.

Take steps now to prepare for wildfire season

Create and practice a household emergency plan and build an emergency kit.
Make sure your PSE account contact information is up to date.
If you use a medical device in your home that relies on electricity, apply for Life Support status on your account.
Sign up for county emergency alerts and learn more about neighborhood or community emergency response plans.
Maintain trees and other vegetation on your property and report danger trees near power lines to a PSE Arborist.
Get your free Wildfire Ready Plan from Washington Department of Natural Resources and take action to make your home and community more resilient.
Find resources for emergency preparedness from the American Red Cross.