Nearly 80,500 acres burning in WA on Monday
NANCE BESTON | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 2 months, 3 weeks AGO
A scooper plane drops water on the north side of the Rattlesnake Fire on Sept. 7. The fire is the largest one in Washington at around 17,700 acres as of Monday with 5% containment.
COURTESY PHOTO/INCIWEB
Firefighters patrol and hold a dozer line at the Crown Creek Fire Sept. 7. The fire has scorched around 14,000 acres as of Monday, making it the second largest active fire in Washington.
The Lower Sugarloaf Fire is causing smoke to be visible in Wenatchee and Leavenworth. The fire has burned around 12,500 acres as of Monday.
MOSES LAKE — Washington’s fire season is heating up with nearly 80,500 acres burning across the state as of Monday.
“Part of the reason that you are seeing a lot of those large fires on the landscape is because we had several lightning storms that moved through during red flag conditions,” Department of Natural Resources Public Information Officer Ryan Rodruck said.
Despite this, the fire season is still under the 10-year average of about 470,000 acres, with the state sitting at around 122,300 acres this year.
“I'd say we're on par with the prediction that we made earlier, that it would be an above-normal fire season and we're starting to see that play out as far as number of ignitions, so that total acreage burned is still under that 10 year average, but the total number of ignitions is kind of right on par with what we were predicting,” Rodruck said.
As a result of these blazes, there are several areas in Washington with air quality concerns. The Air Quality Index ranges from good in areas such as Aberdeen, Longview and Mt. Rainier to unhealthy in Colville.
“It depends on how much smoke those fires are putting out, based on the type of fuels they're consuming, how high that smoke then gets into the atmosphere, whether it gets up very, very high and dissipates or stays very low and gets caught by the wind and settles in a valley,” Rodruck said. “It's very dependent on the kind of geography and the weather that's happening around where those fires are around the state.”
Rodrick said he wants to remind residents to follow burn ban regulations and evacuation notices. As of Monday, both Grant and Adams counties have burn bans in place. Both counties have an annual burn ban from June 1 to Sept. 30.
The ban restricts all residential burning, including a ban on burning yard waste, the burning of ditch banks or any other private burning. Agricultural burns are still allowed with permits from the Washington State Department of Ecology. Recreational fires such as campfires are fine if allowed by campground authorities. At residences, they are allowed if they have a fire pit with 25 feet of non-combustible space around the fire pit, water is present and the fire is attended. Barbecues are allowed with the same rules.
“Absolutely respect those burn bans where they are in place,” Rodruck said. “We had a lot of burn bans come into effect very early on in the season. Ninety percent of the wildfires that start in the state of Washington, on average, are human-caused, so respect those burn bans where they are in place.”
As of Monday, there are no active blazes in Grant or Adams counties. However, Rodruck said, DNR has 12 large fires of concern, which account for 71,350 acres burning.
“Several have well exceeded the 10,000-acre mark, and so we're obviously dedicating a tremendous number of resources to ensure that those fires get contained,” Rodruck said.
Three largest fires:
Rattlesnake Fire: 17,713 acres. 5% contained. Lincoln County. Started Sept. 2. Undetermined cause.
Crown Creek Fire: 14,139 acres. No containment. Stevens County. Started Aug. 29. Lightning-caused.
Lower Sugarloaf Fire: 12,453 acres. No containment. Chelan County. Started Sept. 1. Lightning-caused.
Other fires:
Bear Gulch Fire: 10,275 acres. 9% contained. Mason County. Started July 6. Human-caused.
East Creek Fire: 44 acres. No containment. Whatcom County. Started July 20. Unknown cause.
Grande Fire: 22 acres. 65% contained. Stevens County. Started Aug. 25. Lightning-caused.
Katy Creek Fire: 3,162 acres. No containment. Stevens County. Started Aug. 30. Lightning-caused.
Labor Mountain Fire: 1,984 acres. No containment. Kittitas County. Started Sept. 1. Lightning-caused.
Lynx Mountain Fire: 3,541 acres. No containment. Ferry County. Started Sept. 2. Under investigation.
Martin Fire: 174 acres. 5% contained. Chelan County. Started Aug. 27. Under investigation.
Perry Fire: 1,557 acres. No containment. Whatcom County. Started Aug. 27. Under investigation.
Pomas Fire: 3,533 acres. No containment. Chelan County. Started June 13. Lightning-caused.
Red Mountain Fire: 58.3 acres. No containment. Snohomish County. Started Aug. 28. Unknown cause.
Roundabout Fire: 26.5 acres. No containment. Okanogan County. Started Sept. 7. Undetermined caused.
Snow Peak Fire: 700 acres. No containment. Stevens County. Started Sept. 1. Lightning caused.
Sugar Fire: 75 acres. No containment. Okanogan County. Started Sept. 6. Unknown cause.
Tacoma Creek Fire: 3,152 acres. No containment. Stevens and Pend Oreille Counties. Started Sept. 1. Under investigation.
Tunnel Creek Fire: 100 acres. No containment. Jefferson County. Started Sept. 6. Unknown cause.
Wildcat Fire: 7,736 acres. No containment. Yakima County. Started Aug. 25. Under investigation.
Air quality:
Air quality labels are decided by the air quality index number. Between zero and 50 is good, 51-100 is moderate, 101-150 is unhealthy for sensitive groups, 151-200 is unhealthy, 201-300 is very unhealthy and above 301 is hazardous.
Ephrata – Monday: moderate, 86 Air Quality Index. Tuesday: moderate. Wednesday: unhealthy for sensitive groups. Thursday: moderate. Friday: moderate.
Moses Lake – Monday: moderate, 82 Air Quality Index. Tuesday: moderate. Wednesday: unhealthy for sensitive groups. Thursday: moderate. Friday: moderate.
Othello – Monday: moderate, 52 Air Quality Index. Tuesday: moderate. Wednesday: moderate. Thursday: moderate. Friday: moderate.
Quincy – Monday: Moderate, 86 Air Quality Index. Tuesday: Moderate. Wednesday: Unhealthy for sensitive groups. Thursday: Moderate. Friday: Moderate.
Ritzville – Monday: Good 17 Air Quality Index. Tuesday: moderate. Wednesday: moderate. Thursday: moderate. Friday: moderate.
SOURCES: INCIWEB, WATCHDUTY, AIRNOW.
Firefighters patrol and hold a dozer line at the Crown Creek Fire Sept. 7. The fire has scorched around 14,000 acres as of Monday, making it the second largest active fire in Washington.
The Lower Sugarloaf Fire is causing smoke to be visible in Wenatchee and Leavenworth. The fire has burned around 12,500 acres as of Monday.ARTICLES BY NANCE BESTON
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