WENATCHEE — The National Weather Service has issued a fire weather watch for North Central Washington due to forecasted winds and potential thunderstorms come Wednesday. The weather watch goes into effect at midnight and is set to last through Wednesday evening.

Once wildfires start, one of the ways they spread is through firebrands that blow into unburned areas. Despite their importance in spreading fires, relatively little is known about how many firebrands different kinds of vegetation generate during wildfires. “If you want to understand how to control (wildfire) or contain it or prevent it, it’s helpful to know how it spreads,” he says.

Firefighters at the blaze near Cheney, now called the Andrus Fire, held growth at 300 acres overnight, but the fire is still 0% contained as of Tuesday morning. Evacuation orders were updated Tuesday morning to a region that spanned from Hallett Road to the north to Andrus Road to the south. The western boundary of the map included Fruitvale road and Taylor road. To the east, the area reached Grove Road before cutting back west toward Andrus Road.

EAST WENATCHEE, Wash. — The Batterman Fire, which started about noon on the Fourth of July, grew to 7,900 acres by Monday evening, burning brush and grass in steep terrain near East Wenatchee and Rock Island. About 10% of the fire’s perimeter was contained, and firefighters burned the west side of Rock Island Grade to hold the fire’s southeastern line, according to the Southeast Washington Interagency Incident Management Team out of Pasco.

As the area comes off a record-breaking heatwave, almost every jurisdiction in the Inland Northwest has some sort of fireworks ban in place to prevent wildfires. Even in counties that don’t have a ban, officials have been urging the public to refrain from putting on their own display and go watch a professional show instead, though the city of Spokane announced Thursday that four of its planned fireworks shows were canceled because of the fire risk.

When wildfires rage across the landscape, whether on grasslands or in forests, the massive plumes of smoke that rise into the air and travel for miles can carry more than a thousand different types of microbes with them. Yet until University of Idaho associate professor Leda Kobziar came along, there was essentially no research on what bacteria and fungi might be carried in that smoke, how far those microbes might travel, or how they might impact soil ecology both where the fire started and where the microbes land.

With temperatures soaring in the triple digits, the National Weather Service in Seattle issued a Red Flag Warning for Lewis County and other areas of Western Washington on Sunday.  The …

A national organization has set its fire-risk level for the country at 4 out of 5, prompting fire officials in Eastern Washington to warn the community about the risks of a hot, dry and fiery summer. Candice Stevenson, public information officer at the National Interagency Fire Center, said the fire preparedness levels guide where the national organization sends its resources, and how much will go to each region.

Crews battled several small wildfires around the Inland Northwest over the weekend, many of them burning dry brush and whipped up by brisk winds. “I feel like we’ve been chasing fires, and particularly human-caused fires, since January. March and April have been, of course, the fourth-driest spring we’ve had since 1895. As such, it’s caused drought conditions for us in a lot of the counties in Washington and you know that Ecology has issued a drought advisory," said Angie Lane, the assistant division manager for the wildfire division in the Washington Department of Natural Resources.

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Manson Fire crews responded to two fires Sunday, both put out in a short period of time.

VANTAGE, Wash. — Firefighters have contained a fire that was burning along I-90 eastbound on Sunday afternoon.

As the state prepares for a difficult wildfire season, Avista Utilities has said it doesn’t currently plan to shut off power in efforts to prevent fires.

The Inland Northwest got a double whammy of grim news recently as forecasters predicted significant wildfire risk through this summer and the Washington Department of Ecology issued its first-ever drought advisory for much of the state. The period from February through May 24 saw the least amount of rain in Spokane since record keeping began in 1881, says Jeff Marti, water resources planner at Ecology. March and April specifically were the fourth-driest those months have been since 1895. "That is alarming," says Angie Lane, assistant wildfire division manager for the state Department of Natural Resources. "That area in Central and Eastern Washington is going to be above normal temperatures, below normal precipitation, and that sets us up for potential for significant fires all through the summer."

U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley warned that difficult days are ahead for Oregonians after they emerged Friday from a wildfire briefing with federal and state officials. Fire season is picking up speed as higher temperatures and severe drought conditions have already contributed to at least three wildfires that burned in different parts of the state. That has federal, state and local fire officials on high alert, as Wyden said “They have been working around the clock now for months to deal with the very difficult days that are ahead for Oregonians.” Both U.S. senators said they have shifted their priorities this wildfire season. They said they want to make sure federal money set aside for fire prevention funds does not get tapped for other uses, as unprecedented events like last year’s wildfires are costing the state more and more money to fight.

“The more lead time people have to be aware of what’s likely to come their way, the more lead time — we think, we hope — they have to protect themselves and their health,” Dhammapala says. When smoke is incoming, Seattleites can plan to purchase equipment like box fans, filters and N95 masks; reschedule activities; or even plan to evacuate. Less than a year later and just in time for wildfire season, Ecology has a new tool in its toolbelt. The new five-day automated smoke forecast is accessible as part of Ecology’s online smoke map, with days three through five similar to the existing two-day forecast, but using slightly different streams of information. Users can anticipate average daily air quality conditions in 53 separate zones across the state, each pegged to real-time air quality monitors (measuring things like health-affecting ozone and fine particulate matter) and air quality management regions. When it soft-launched with the five-day forecast Tuesday, the map became the first available automated five-day smoke forecast tailored to Washington.

May is Wildfire Awareness Month and the State Fire Marshal’s Office is reinforcing the importance of being prepared after 2020 saw more than 1,500 wildfires that burned over 823,000 acres in Washington. Deputy State Fire Marshal Robert Wittenberg said residents should prepare in part by putting together both an evacuation plan and a family communication plan, which designates an out-of-area friend or relative as a point of contact in case your family is separated.

Seed the North will collect seeds and use drone technology to drop them over areas disturbed by both natural disaster and industry.

Wildfire season has started extra early this year, and Gig Harbor Fire is reminding everyone to double-check and make sure your home is ready in case of an emergency. May is Wildfire Community Preparedness Month, and in keeping with the season, Gig Harbor Fire & Medic One is sharing a few home safety preparedness tips.

RICHLAND, Wash. — Smoke billowed through the air near the Yakima River Delta and Highway 240 through the entire afternoon into Wednesday night, but local authorities say that the brush fires are under control. According to Richland Emergency Services, the wildfire is being monitored by two dedicated fire crews tonight. Though the fire hasn’t been fully extinguished, it’s expected to fizzle out naturally in a specified burn zone. Richland Police confirmed that there is no active threat posed to the public.