| 2018 Washington wildfires | |
|---|---|
 Fire crew at the Little Camas Fire, July 9 | |
| Date(s) | June–October 2018 Statewide state of emergency: July 31, 2018 [1] |
| Season | |
← 2017 2019 → | |
The 2018 Washington wildfire season officially began June 1, 2018. A statewide state of emergency was declared by Governor Jay Inslee on July 31. [1]
State level planning for the fire season began at least as early as January, 2018. [2]
A regional annual meeting was held at Yakima in March to prepare for fighting wildfires. [3] Summer fire rules went into effect on state-owned lands on April 15. [4]
Four hundred firefighters from 36 fire districts and 18 agencies trained to fight forest fires in the Cascade Mountains above Yakima in May. [5]
A 20-year Washington Wildland Fire Protection Strategic Plan under development during the first half of the year was to be released by the Department of Natural Resources to the public in July, 2018. [6]
In June, three firefighting helicopters were staged in Western Washington by the Department of Natural Resources for the first time, prompted by a low 2017 fire season west of the Cascades followed by a dry month of May 2018 causing an abundance of dry fuel, and other weather considerations. [7] [8]
The season predictions issued in May cited drier than average weather conditions and low snow pack in Oregon, but in Washington conditions appeared to be near normal. [9] The water year began October 1, 2017, and by May 1, indicated normal precipitation in the state, but according to National Interagency Fire Center, models that also include Pacific-scale El Niño–Southern Oscillation effects showed high chance of below-normal precipitation and higher-than-normal temperatures through July; these factors led to a prediction of above-normal wildfire risk for the entirety of Eastern Washington through August 2018. [10] Climate scientists said in July that the Palmer Drought Severity Index showed Western Washington to be significantly drier than normal, adding to fire risk there. [11]
What may have been the first significant fire of the year occurred on April 24, when 20 acres burned at Woodland, Washington in Clark County, extinguished via aerial attack. [12]
On May 22, a controlled burn initiated by a local resident went wild and burned 300 acres near the Yakima Training Center. An Army helicopter crew was credited with saving homes near Selah by dumping water. [13]
The Soap Lake Fire in early June grew to 2,000 acres (810 ha) and triggered level 3 evacuations in Grant County. [14]
The Ryegrass Coulee Fire on July 9–10 burned 1,600 acres, closed 20 miles of Interstate 90 in both directions for most of a day, and forced the complete evacuation of Vantage, Washington. It was the first of the state's fire season to trigger a level three evacuation or a road closure. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) released funds, saying that "the fire threatened such destruction as would constitute a major disaster". [15] [16] [17]
The Little Camas Fire at 47°25′26″N120°33′40″W / 47.424°N 120.561°W , in the Cascades south of Leavenworth, Washington, started on July 5 and reached over 300 acres. It caused the evacuation of a bible camp. Over 440 firefighters and three helicopters were sent to contain it. [18] [19]
The Vulcan Mountain Fire at Vulcan Mountain in Ferry County grew to over 20 acres around July 13, before being contained. [20] [21]
Smoke conditions in mid July were judged as good, in contrast to the 2017 season which had Seattle blanketed in smoke and ash around the same time due to fires in British Columbia, Eastern Washington and Oregon. [11]
The Rocky Reach Fire at 47°32′10″N120°17′31″W / 47.536°N 120.292°W , near Wenatchee, started on Friday, July 13 and reached over 3,386 acres (1,370 ha) before being contained. [22]
The Boylston Fire started on July 19 again shut down I-90 east of Ellensburg for 24 hours. It burned 80,000 acres, mostly on the Yakima Training Center, caused level three "leave now" evacuations, and destroyed five buildings while being fought by three fixed-wing aircraft and two helicopters. Military personnel and equipment to fight the fire were sent from Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane and Joint Base Lewis-McChord in the Puget Sound Area. [23] [24] [25] The smoke caused "unhealthy" air conditions in Spokane on July 20. [26]
The Upriver Beacon Fire in Spokane County, on the Spokane city/county border at 47°41′38″N117°18′54″W / 47.694°N 117.315°W , [27] caused the evacuation of 800 homes and evacuation warnings for thousands more on July 18. It burned 120 acres (49 ha) before being contained. Nearly all local fire agencies including cities of Spokane, Spokane Valley and Spokane County, and out-of-area fire aircraft, responded. [28]
The Cougar Creek Fire at 47°40′52″N120°13′01″W / 47.681°N 120.217°W near Entiat started on July 28 as the result of lightning. [29] Forest recreation users were told to leave. [30]
Smoke from fires in Siberia was visible over southern British Columbia in late July and was assessed to be a possible health impact to Washington residents. [31] On July 29, the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency stated the Puget Sound region would experience "moderate air quality at times with some upper level smoke making for pretty sunsets. This smoke comes from distant fires, mostly originating from Siberia." [32] On July 30, University of Washington meteorology professor Cliff Mass noted the progressively more smoky situation in Seattle from Siberian wildfires, and said a "smoke front" from California's Carr Fire would arrive before sunset. [33]
Parts of Goat Rocks Wilderness were closed for the month of September in response to the Miriam Fire at 46°36′58″N121°20′10″W / 46.616°N 121.336°W , reported July 30 as the result of lightning. [34] 400 campers were evacuated. [35]
The Milepost 90 Fire in the Columbia Gorge near Wishram, Washington started on July 31 and reached over 11,000 acres (4,500 ha) by August 1. Level 2 and level 3 evacuation orders were issued near Wishram. [36] Almost 20 miles of State Route 14 were closed in both directions. [37] On August 3, it burned 14,500 acres (5,900 ha) and 85% contained. [38]
Crescent Mountain and Gilbert Fires at 48°27′04″N120°34′44″W / 48.451°N 120.579°W near Twisp began with lightning on July 29 and grew quickly to over 100 acres (40 ha) by August 1, driven by evening downslope wind. Four helicopters and other equipment were assigned and smokejumpers sent in to the rough terrain. Hikers and campers were told to leave. [39] Crescent Mountain Fire increased to 7,671 acres (3,104 ha) by August 5. [40] It was controlled as of October 22, 2018 and burned a total 52,000 acres. [41]
The Maple Fire at 47°34′52″N123°07′52″W / 47.581°N 123.131°W near the Hamma Hamma River on the Olympic Peninsula sent smoke towards Seattle on August 7. [42] [43] The fire was caused by illegal logging, and burned 3,300 acres (13 km2). The resulting criminal trial was the first time tree DNA had been used in a federal trial in the United States. [44]
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An infrared thermography-capable RC-26 surveillance aircraft and support crew from Washington Air National Guard were deployed in support of the National Interagency Fire Center for the third year in a row. [45]
The Governor's July 31 state of emergency declaration allowed the Washington National Guard to be deployed; two Blackhawk helicopters at Fairchild Air Force Base were quickly allocated to firefighting. [46]
The 2012 Washington wildfires were a series of 1,342 wildfires that burned 259,526 acres (1,050 km2) over the course of 2012. The fires primarily occurred in the Okanogan and Wenatchee National Forests during September and October 2012. A severe lightning storm on September 8 caused hundreds of fires across the east side of Cascade Range. Smoke caused hazardous air quality conditions in the cities of Ellensburg and Wenatchee, and was noticeable in Seattle. The cost of fighting the largest four fires was estimated to be $67.5 million.
The 2014 Washington wildfires were a series of 1,480 wildfires that burned 386,972 acres (1,566 km2) over the course of 2014. The first occurred primarily on the east side of the Cascade Range in Chelan and Okanogan counties. The fires burned private land, state land, and within the Okanogan and Wenatchee National Forests, ultimately covering over 350,000 acres. The first fire began on July 8 near the Entiat River. On July 14 a lightning storm started dozens more fires across the eastern Cascade Range. Governor Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency, activating the Washington National Guard. More lightning strikes later in the summer started additional fires.
The 2015 wildfire season was the largest in Washington state history, with more than one million acres burning across the state from June to September. As many as 3,000 firefighters including 800 Washington National Guard members were deployed to fight the fires. The 17th Field Artillery Brigade of the United States Army also deployed 200 soldiers from Joint Base Lewis–McChord to help fight the fires.
The 2016 Washington wildfires season were a series of wildfires in the U.S. state of Washington, notable because of brush fires near the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, and because of brush fires near Spokane, Washington.
The Jolly Mountain fire was a wildfire in Wenatchee National Forest, Kittitas County, Washington, that began with lightning strikes August 11, 2017 and burned for over three months. Fires burned in the upper reaches of the Teanaway River a few miles east of Cle Elum Lake.
The 2017 Washington wildfires were a series of wildfires that burned over the course of 2017, a year that set weather records for heat and aridity in both Western Washington and Eastern Washington.
The Tinder Fire was a wildfire that burned 16,309 acres (6,600 ha) of the Coconino National Forest in the U.S. state of Arizona during April and May 2018. The fire was detected by a United States Forest Service (USFS) lookout tower on April 27, 2018, and firefighters began working to contain its spread within the day. Benefiting from strong winds, low humidity, and high temperatures, the fire grew rapidly over late April, prompting the closure of Arizona State Route 87 and evacuation orders for 1,000 houses in Coconino County. These orders remained until May 4. Almost 700 firefighters were involved in combating the fire, which was fully contained on May 24. The investigation into the fire determined that the Tinder Fire was caused by a prohibited campfire.
The 2020 Washington wildfire season officially began in March 2020. The season was a part of the 2020 Western United States wildfires. By September, wildfires had burned over 713,000 acres, 181 homes had been lost, and one death occurred as a result. The 2020 fire season saw more individual fires than in any other recorded year.
The Evans Canyon Fire, ignited about eight miles north of Naches, Washington, during the afternoon of August 31, 2020. The wildfire expanded by 8,900 acres to almost 13,000 acres between September 1 and 2, then grew to 30,000 acres on September 2. Evacuations of over 400 homes began on September 1 and the entire Yakima River Canyon was closed to recreation, while the city of Selah was threatened. By September 2,900 homes had been evacuated. By the morning of September 3, it had grown to 52,000 acres, 900 homes were ordered evacuated, State Route 821 in the Yakima River Canyon was closed down, and air quality in Yakima County was deemed unhealthy due to smoke. By September 6, it had burned almost 76,000 acres and was 40% contained.
The Western United States experienced a series of major wildfires in 2020. Severe August thunderstorms ignited numerous wildfires across California, Oregon, and Washington, followed in early September by additional ignitions across the West Coast. Fanned by strong, gusty winds and fueled by hot, dry terrains, many of the fires exploded and coalesced into record-breaking megafires, burning more than 10.2 million acres of land, mobilizing tens of thousands of firefighters, razing over ten thousand buildings, and killing at least 37 people. The fires caused over $19.884 billion in damages, including $16.5 billion in property damage and $3.384 billion in fire suppression costs. Climate change and poor forest management practices contributed to the severity of the wildfires.
The 2021 Washington wildfire season officially began in March 2021. By late April, all of Eastern Washington had been classified by the United States Drought Monitor as "abnormally dry" with moderate to severe drought conditions. The state had more than 630 wildfires by the first week of July, on par with the state's record 2015 wildfire season.
The 2021 Arizona wildfire season was a series of wildfires that burned across the state of Arizona, United States. Wildfires across the state burned 524,428 acres (212,228 ha) of land in at least 1,773 fires throughout the state, fueled in part by a drought, hot temperatures, and thunderstorms producing dry lightning. At one point in late June, over 20 active wildfires were burning across the state.
The 2021 Colorado wildfire season was a series of wildfires that burned throughout the U.S. state of Colorado. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, as of July 1, 2021, at least 32,860 acres (13,300 ha) of land had burned in at least 337 wildland fires across the state. Hundreds of homes were burned, and the cities of Louisville and Superior were evacuated, during the Boulder County fires in late December.
The Tiger Fire was a wildfire that burned 16,278 acres (6,587 ha) in the U.S. state of Arizona from June to July 2021. The fire was caused by a dry lightning strike in the Prescott National Forest. Although Horsethief Basin Lake was evacuated and both the community of Crown King and the census-designated place of Black Canyon City were threatened, no injuries or deaths were reported, and no buildings were destroyed. Over 300 fire personnel were assigned to contain the blaze.
The 2022 Washington wildfire season officially began in March 2022. As of August 4, 2022, there have been four large wildfires that have burned 30,800 acres (12,500 ha) across the US state of Washington. This season started quieter than normal due to unusually colder weather that kept Eastern and Southeastern Washington burning index's largely below normal into July. As of October 2022, a total of 140,000 acres (57,000 ha) of land in the state was burned – the fewest number of acres burned since 2012.
The 2023 Washington wildfire season officially began in March 2023 in the US state of Washington.
The 2024 Washington wildfire season is an ongoing series of wildfires that have been burning throughout the U.S. state of Washington.
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