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.”

MAZAMA, Wash. - A 20-mile stretch of the North Cascades Highway is likely to remain closed at least through the end of the month by the Cedar Creek Fire burning in north central Washington, officials say. The highway, also known as State Route 20, is closed from milepost 185, seven miles west of Winthrop, to milepost 165. It is the only U.S. roadway across the Cascade Mountains north of Highway 2.

A fire that started early Thursday morning in Whitman County north of Colton ballooned to approximately 2,000 acres and was still growing. The blaze, officially titled the Steptoe Canyon Fire, is zero percent contained and has prompted Level 1 evacuations, according to a news release from the Washington State Fire Marshal’s Office.

There’s an increase of evacuation notices in the Cedar Creek Fire which continues to grow near Mazama in Okanogan County. It includes several Level 2 (GET READY) and one Level 3 (Evacuate NOW ) alerts. A Red Cross shelter is available at Methow Valley Elementary School. The fire covers more than 8,400 acres and is 11 percent contained as of Wednesday morning. There are 351 people working the fire.

PORTLAND — Wildfires in the American West, including one burning in Oregon that’s currently the largest in the U.S., are creating hazy skies as far away as New York as the massive infernos spew smoke and ash into the air in columns up to 6 miles (10 kilometers) high. Skies over New York City were hazy Tuesday as strong winds blew smoke east from California, Oregon, Montana and other states. Oregon’s Bootleg Fire grew to 616 square miles (1,595 square kilometers) — half the size of Rhode Island.

NESPELEM – Rising temperatures, gusty winds and low relative humidity challenged firefighters July 19 on the Chuweah Creek Fire northeast of Nespelem. Lines held, but there was some spotting and fire slop-over, according to Northwest Incident Management Team 12, which is coordinating the fire fight.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Ecologists in a vast region of wetlands and forest in remote Oregon have spent the past decade thinning young trees and using planned fires to try to restore the thick stands of ponderosa to a less fire-prone state. This week, the nation’s biggest burning wildfire provided them with an unexpected, real-world experiment. As the massive inferno half the size of Rhode Island roared into the Sycan Marsh Preserve, firefighters said the flames jumped less from treetop to treetop and instead returned to the ground, where they were easier to fight, moved more slowly and did less damage to the overall forest.

WENATCHEE -- The Washington Commissioner of Public Lands, Hilary Franz, has just announced the closure of all Department of Natural Resources-managed lands in eastern Washington effective midnight on Friday, July 23, due to extreme fire danger and ongoing drought east of the Cascades. This closure will apply to DNR-managed state lands, conservation areas, community forests and any associated roads, trails, campgrounds, recreational sites or recreational facilities.

Public lands east of the Cascades managed by the Washington state Department of Natural Resources will be closed indefinitely because of drought and the worsening wildfire season. Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz will announce the public land closure during her visit Tuesday morning to the 12,000-acre Red Apple Fire near Wenatchee. “This is never something we want to do, but we need to keep people safe,” said Ryan Rodruck, communications manager for Eastern Washington DNR.

PORTLAND — The threat of thunderstorms and lightning has prompted officials in fire-ravaged Oregon to ask for help from outside the Pacific Northwest to prepare for additional blazes as many resources are already devoted to a massive forest fire. The 569-square-mile Bootleg Fire is burning 300 miles southeast of Portland in and around the Fremont-Winema National Forest, a vast expanse of old-growth forest, lakes and wildlife refuges. Evacuations and property losses have been minimal compared with much smaller blazes in densely populated areas of California.

MAZAMA – A new fire has joined two burning in the upper Methow Valley. The fire is in addition to a pair of blazes burning west of Mazama near Highway 20 that continue to force closure of the highway, with evacuation alerts remaining in place for Mazama and the Lost River area.

Crews made good progress on the Red Apple Fire overnight and now the blaze burning above Wenatchee is holding steady at 12,228 acres. Department of Natural Resources PIO Ryan Rodruck said the fire is at 83% containment, with just a northern portion of the brush fire still technically uncontained.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The monstrous wildfire burning in Oregon has grown to a third the size of Rhode Island and spreads miles each day, but evacuations and property losses have been minimal compared with much smaller blazes in densely populated areas of California. The fire’s jaw-dropping size contrasted with its relatively small impact on people underscores the vastness of the American West and offers a reminder that Oregon, which is larger than Britain, is still a largely rural state, despite being known mostly for its largest city, Portland.

The 2021 wildfire season is intensifying in the western United States, with 80 large fires burning as of the beginning of the week, including an Oregon blaze covering more than 300,000 acres. Statistics from the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) indicated 80 large fires have burned more than 1.15 million acres across 13 states as of Sunday.