Get Prepared Now Yakima For a Hot Season Ahead

Last year was a big challenge for wildland firefighters in Yakima and Washington State. The 2022 fire season is around the corner and authorities are hoping you're prepared if you live in a fire prone area. The fire season usually starts in late June and early July in Washington State.

Predictions so far say the west is dry and ready for fire

The National Interagency Fire Center recently released a report called the "National Significant Wildland Fire Potential Outlook." It says for the period April through July "Most of the West, Plains, and Texas remain in drought Temperatures were mostly above normal on the West and East Coasts, with below normal precipitation across much of the West, northern and central Plains, Texas, and central Appalachians. Most basins in the West are reporting below average snowpack." That's not good news for those concerned about the upcoming wildfire season.

Live in a fire prone area? Sign up for AlertYakima today!

Officials with Yakima County Emergency Management urge everyone to get signed up for what's called AlertYakima. AlertYakima is the mass notification system that all public safety organizations use in Yakima County to notify residents about critical incidents. The system is used to notify you about evacuations, severe weather warnings, assistance locating lost or missing children. You can sign up now at https://www.yakimacounty.us/2222/Alert-Yakima

Firefighters were busy in the state in 2021

The Washington Forest Protection Association says during the 2021 the Washington wildfire season a "total 674,249 acres burned. 88% of Washington wildfires were human-caused. 12% (232 total) of Washington wildfires were lightning-caused. 44 Washington fires met the large fire criteria- described as fires larger than 1,000 acres in the western United States."

LOOK: The most expensive weather and climate disasters in recent decades

Stacker ranked the most expensive climate disasters by the billions since 1980 by the total cost of all damages, adjusted for inflation, based on 2021 data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The list starts with Hurricane Sally, which caused $7.3 billion in damages in 2020, and ends with a devastating 2005 hurricane that caused $170 billion in damage and killed at least 1,833 people. Keep reading to discover the 50 of the most expensive climate disasters in recent decades in the U.S.

Gallery Credit: KATELYN LEBOFF

LOOK: See how much gasoline cost the year you started driving

To find out more about how has the price of gas changed throughout the years, Stacker ran the numbers on the cost of a gallon of gasoline for each of the last 84 years. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (released in April 2020), we analyzed the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline from 1976 to 2020 along with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for unleaded regular gasoline from 1937 to 1976, including the absolute and inflation-adjusted prices for each year.

Read on to explore the cost of gas over time and rediscover just how much a gallon was when you first started driving.

Gallery Credit: Sophia Crisafulli