6/29/15 Fires Impacting Air Quality in Wenatchee

Early morning rains helped to douse some of the Sleepy Hollow wildfire, but smoke will be seen until all fires are completely out. 

Residents can check air quality in their communities at the Department of Ecology’s Air Monitoring Page:  https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/enviwa/Default.htm

Several businesses and homes have burned or are burning and still emitting smoke, some containing hazardous chemicals.  Reports in the Wenatchee World indicate that ammonia leaks are contained.  Updates may be found at www.wenatcheeworld.com

Forecast:   There is a Red Flag Warning* in effect for most of Central and Eastern Washington

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/otx/              

*Red Flag Warning – Issued by the National Weather Service when conditions exist that could lead to rapid or increased wildfire activity.

Very dry fuels, low relative humidity, and strong winds make for more extreme fire weather.  Several lightning strikes from the weather system have led to new fire starts.  Everything is pretty small at this time but we’re keeping an eye on the smoke.  Please continue to check local forecasts and news sources for fire information.

As crews put out the structure fires the smoke production should decrease.  If you live downwind of the fire(s) you can expect intermittent smoke as strong wind speeds may keep smoke at breathing level until all  fires are out.  By this evening, air quality could return to good or moderate.

For more information and guidelines: 

Use the tabs on this webpage such as “Smoke and Health,” etc.

Department of Ecology Air Monitoring Page:  https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/enviwa/Default.htm

6/29/2015 Wenatchee Air Quality Improves

Wenatchee air quality has improved significantly from the early morning hours and the category is now "Moderate". Technical tidbit: those with particularly sharp eyes may notice that some of the bars on the chart below (especially around 6-8 am) do not match the values on the chart in the previous post. Why not? It's because the most recent values in these charts are estimates of a 24-hour average that tries to predict into the future. So as actual monitoring values come in, the 24-hour averages are updated and become more accurate.

6/29/2015 Sleepy Hollow Fire sends smoke into Wenatchee

The fast moving Sleepy Hollow fire (approximate location 0.25 mi. N of Wenatchee) sent smoke into the surrounding areas and the Wenatchee air quality monitor showed Unhealthy conditions as of about midnight last night. The fire is so new that there is little official information about it at this time. A state incident management team is mobilizing to the fire and will set up better communications soon. We know it is approximately 3,000 acres in size and multiple structures have been lost. The fire is reported to be burning in grass and brush which may indicate that it won't last as long as it would if it was burning timber, and better yet, it has been hit with some heavy rain. More will be posted as we learn more. Click on the "SMOKE AND HEALTH" tab above to access lots of good information about what the air quality warning categories mean and what you can do to protect yourself and your family.

Pacific NW 7-day significant wildfire potential