Increased fire activity affecting southern counties

Strong winds, lightning, and dry conditions have continued east of the Cascades, leading to more fire growth and new fires of concern.  Satellite imagery this morning shows large swaths of smoke across the region.  With the large number of fires in the Pacific NW and continued westerly flow, smoke impacts should be expected in central and eastern Washington through the weekend.  An Air Quality Alert continues for Yakima, Chelan, Okanogan, Stevens, and Ferry counties.  New Air Quality Alerts are in place for Klickitat, Benton, Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield, and Asotin counties.  If you are near fire locations, please stay up to date on evacuation orders.

• The Retreat/Rimrock fire (human caused, 15,000 acres), upwind of Yakima, continues to burn in the Hwy 12 corridor around Oak Creek.  Smoke production has been extreme, with unhealthy air impacting most of the county.
• The Pioneer fire (human caused, 32,000 acres), near Stehekin in Chelan county, has slowed down thanks to firefighters, but continues to send smoke down Lake Chelan.
• The Swawilla fire (lightning, 31,000 acres), near Keller on the Colville Reservation, continues to grow and cause unhealthy air around Ferry, Okanogan, and Douglas counties.
• The Big Horn fire (49,000 acres), near the Klickitat / Benton County border, has reached Highway 14 and firefighters are working diligently, but smoke impacts are being felt nearby.
• The Powerline Rd fire (aka Walla Walla River Rd fire, 1,500 acres) is a new fire adding to the air quality impacts around Walla Walla county.
• The Cougar Creek fire (14,000 acres), in SW Asotin County, was exacerbated by additional lightning and continues to generate considerable smoke.
• The Gwen fire (20,000 acres), in Idaho, is very close to the Lewiston / Clarkston valley and has caused very unhealthy air.  The close proximity is of great concern for residents in the area.

There are also many more fires burning across the region, especially in Oregon where they are experiencing the largest wildfire season in years.  See the map below showing satellite-detected fires of concern.

Fires of concern and recent satellite fire detections

A band of moisture and cooler weather is expected on Monday and Tuesday, which should help reduce fire and smoke concerns for a bit, though it isn't expected to be enough moisture to extinguish fires.