WACD Reading List

A large, new portion of the Twenty-Five Mile Fire at Lake Chelan is now under the most intense evacuation status. The length of 1st Creek Road, which is west of Lake Chelan State Park, is under a Level 3 (Go Now) condition, as is most fire’s footprint along and east of Lakeshore Road to the north

Strong winds on Monday led to fire growth in central and eastern Washington that prompted new mandatory evacuations and burned homes, fire officials said. A fire northwest of Spokane that started Sunday near the town of Ford caused residents to scramble to leave their homes on Monday, The Spokesman-Review reported.

FORD, Wash. — The Corkscrew Fire in Ford, Washington destroyed 20 buildings, including eight homes, as it grew to more than 13,000 acres. The fire is located 16.5 miles west-southwest of Deer Park. It's being called the Corkscrew Fire and is burning in timber, grass and brush. This has caused several evacuations in the area.

Even if you can’t smell it, that doesn’t mean it’s not impacting you. “Your nose is not a good tool,” said Emily Fischer, an atmospheric scientist and associate professor at Colorado State University.

A wildfire raced through more than 6,000 acres Monday east of Ford and filled the horizon north of Spokane with a wall of smoke. Fire officials called for the immediate evacuations of Ford and several communities as fire threatened hundreds of buildings.

The region's hot, dry conditions are hampering efforts to put out wildfires. One of those is burning in Stevens County. It started in a building near Ford yesterday afternoon.

SPOKANE – Fire restrictions are being extended on public lands administered by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management Spokane District and the Bureau of Reclamation in eastern Washington. The temporary ban was renewed Aug. 7 in Adams, Asotin, Benton, Chelan, Columbia, Douglas, Ferry, Franklin, Garfield, Grant, Kittitas, Klickitat, Lincoln, Okanogan, Pend Oreille, Spokane, Stevens, Walla Walla, Whitman, and Yakima counties.

Last September, we shared an article about the benefits of controlled burns and other Indigenous practices for wildfire management and mitigation. Now, the Bootleg fire in Oregon is offering up some more evidence to support that Indigenous practices could be lifesaving in a climate change-fueled fire future.

Smoke visible in the Leavenworth area reported by KPQ listeners is being linked to the Nasom Fire at Lake Wenatchee. Lake Wenatchee Fire and Rescue says ash has been falling on homes along the south shore as the fire is growing on the west end of Nason Ridge, above Rainy Pass. It’s still seven miles from homes along the lake and is being managed by the U.S. Forest Service.

LAME DEER, Mont. (AP) — A wildfire bore down on rural southeastern Montana towns Thursday as continuing hot, dry weather throughout the West drove flames through more than a dozen states. Several thousand people in Montana remained under evacuation orders as the Richard Spring Fire advanced across the sparsely-populated Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation.

OKANOGAN COUNTY, Wash. — Both directions of State Route 20, also known as the North Cascades Highway, fully reopened to traffic Monday after a section of the roadway was closed for weeks due to wildfire activity in the area. A 20-mile stretch of the highway closed in mid-July and was extended multiple times. While drivers can now use SR 20 to travel between Skagit and Methow valleys, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) said fire response crews are still using parts of the highway for staging and work.

GREENVILLE, Calif. (AP) — A wildfire raging in Northern California exploded in size overnight, becoming the third-largest wildfire in state history amid high temperatures and strong winds. Better weather conditions were expected to aid the firefight on Friday. The Dixie Fire grew by 110 square miles (285 square kilometers) between Thursday night and Friday morning, making the blaze the largest wildfire currently raging in the nation.

NCW — Tuesday’s lightning storms started a slew of small wildfires across North Central Washington. Firefighting crews across the region are scrambling to contain the damage as another potentially dangerous weather system moves in. At least nine fires have started in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest since Tuesday, all of which appear to be lightning-caused, said Victoria Wilkins, Forest Service spokesperson.

The Cedar Creek Fire near the Methow Valley in Okanogan County is growing in size and is now burning almost 49,000 acres. Michael Davis with the response team says they’re trying to prevent any spread into communities. “We’re really working hard to keep the fire out of the Twisp River Drainage,” said Davis. “We really don’t want to let the fire get down into there and potentially threaten Twisp or the communities between here and the town.”

WINTHROP – The Cub Creek 2 Fire, one of several blazes burning in Okanogan and Ferry counties, grew to 52,387 acres as of Wednesday morning, July 28. The blaze north of Winthrop is 13 percent contained, according to the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest.

WINTHROP – Firefighters from all over the West plus the Washington National Guard have joined the fight against fires burning on opposite sides of Okanogan County and into neighboring counties. Level 3 (get out now) evacuation notices went out Sunday night, July 25, for residents of several roads in the Wolf Creek area below Sun Mountain Lodge and for the lodge itself. Firefighters ran hoses through Wolf Creek neighborhoods and around the lodge in defense against the Cedar Creek Fire.

NESPELEM — All evacuation levels at the Chuweah Creek Fire in Nespelem have been removed. The towns of Nespelem and Keller, as well as several surrounding areas, were under varying evacuation levels since a lightning strike started the fire July 12. On Monday, Level 1 notices — be aware — were lifted, according to a news release from Northwest Incident Management Team 12.

Due to extreme fire danger and ongoing drought, The Nature Conservancy is temporarily closing all recreational and public access to lands it manages in Eastern Washington, effective July 23. This includes Central Cascades Forest lands on both sides of I-90 around Cle Elum and stretching south to Highway 12, the Moses Coulee/McCartney Creek, Beezley Hills complex of preserves, and other preserve lands scattered through Eastern Washington.

A significant and far-reaching heat wave is poised to build across much of the continental U.S. during the next few weeks, and it could be the most expansive in the country so far during this unusually hot summer, aggravating drought and wildfires.

There are more than a dozen fires burning in Eastern and Central Washington, Idaho and Montana. According to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center, Washington state had six large wildfires on July 19, 2020. But as of July 19, 2021, it's reporting 17. That means fire crews are responding to more large fires, earlier in the season.

NESPELEM – The Chuweah Creek Fire, burning northeast of Nespelem on the Colville Indian Reservation, had charred about 36,690 acres of land as of Thursday morning, July 22. Containment was at 40 percent, according to Northwest Incident Management Team 12.

The Grant County Health District issued an air advisory Thursday in response to several wildfires in Central Washington causing the air quality to deteriorate. “The smoke is kind of in the area and lingering,” said Misty Aguilar, Public Information Officer. “We want folks to pay to what’s going on in their surroundings and plan accordingly.”