Two wildfires in Washington in particular - Cougar Creek and Gilbert/Crescent Mtn. are emitting significant amounts of smoke which is then combining with smoke from other fires in Washington and Canada to cause air quality problems for northern parts of the Columbia Basin from Chelan and Twisp, to Wellpinit and Colville. The Miriam fire near White Pass and the new Bannock Lakes fire in Glacier Peak Wilderness are worth watching in the coming days. More information on fires in Washington is shown below with links for even more detail when available.
New Fires
Saddle Mountain. 25 mi S of Moses Lake, WA. Start 8/2. Full
Suppression. Cause: Human. 1,000 acres. 49% containment. Minimal fire behavior.
Grass and brush. Agricultural and power line infrastructure threatened. Road
closure.
Angel Springs. 7 mi NE of Davenport, WA. Start 8/2. Full
Suppression. Cause: Unknown. 600 acres. 0% containment. Timber and bush.
Structures threatened. Evacuations in effect. http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/aug/03/fire-north-of-reardan-grows-to-600-acres/
Bannock Lakes. In Glacier Peak Wilderness between Suiattle Pass and
Blankenship Mountain. Approximately 7 miles northwest of Holden Village. 20
acres. Monitoring, no team assigned. Burning slowly in heavy timber in
inaccessible terrain. Pacific Crest Trail closures in effect. https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/okawen/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD590255
Ongoing Fires
Miriam. 25 mi SE of Mt Rainier. Start 7/30. Full Suppression.
Cause: Lightning. 675 acres (+445). 0% containment. Active fire behavior.
Timber. Steep terrain. White Pass Ski Resort and T&E species habitat
threatened. Evacuations in effect. Road, trail, and area closures. https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6066/
Cougar Creek. 25 mi W of Chelan, WA. Start 7/29. Full Suppression.
Cause: Lightning. 3,614 acres (+2,055). 0% containment. Extreme fire behavior.
Timber. Road and trail closures. Structures, cultural, recreation threatened. https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6053/
Gilbert/Crescent Mtn. 16 mi W of Winthrop WA. Start 7/29. Point
Zone Protection. Cause: Lightning. 5,000 acres (+3,000). 0% containment.
Extreme fire behavior. Structures, recreation, and timber threatened.
Evacuations in effect. https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6069/
Sheep Creek. 5 mi NW of North Port, WA. Start 7/30. Full
Suppression. Cause: Unknown. 249 acres (+103). 5% containment. Extreme fire
behavior. Timber. Steep terrain. Structures, commercial logging, radio repeater
site, and lookout tower threatened. Road and area closures. https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6088/
We are staying at Sun Mountain Lodge outside of Winthrop , here on a vacation from our home in the Midwest. It is extremely hazy, I would say smoky all through the valley . Should we be concerned about the conditions? Concerned enough to cut short our stay ?
ReplyDeleteHi, thats a personal decision. Does anyone in your group have respiratory complications? The forecast is for continuing smoke in the Methow, likely in higher concentrations than you saw today. Minimize exposure to smoke by staying indoors and consider wearing a N-95 or N100 mask when outdoors. Check out the health resources on this blog. Hope you're able to enjoy your vacation nevertheless.
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