2017 Washington wildfires

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.

2017 Washington wildfires
Wildfires burning September 3, 2017 (satellite image). Visible in the Cascades, north to south: Diamond Creek Fire, Jolly Mountain Fire, Norse Peak Fire
Statistics
Date(s)May–October 2017
Statewide state of emergency: September 2, 2017[1]
Season
← 2016
2018 →

Timeline of events

Fire season officially began on April 15.[2] Training of state fire crews was conducted in May, as well as training of Washington National Guard in helitack insertion for fire crews.[3]

On the morning of August 1, smoke from BC fires pushed into the Seattle area, rapidly making Mount Rainier invisible on a cloudless day.[4] In early August, heavy smoke from British Columbia over Seattle earned the social media title "Smokezilla".[5] Mid-month, several large fires in the state's Cascades Range were ignited by lightning.[6]

On August 8, the city of Seattle recorded 52 straight days without rain, a new record.[7] The first measurable rainfall at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac) was 0.02 inches in mid-August, setting a record 55 day dry streak.[8]

On September 2, the Governor of Washington, Jay Inslee, declared a state of emergency across all Washington counties due to wildfires.[1][9]

Peak Air Quality Index values for Oregon and Washington on September 6, 2017. Air quality is hazardous in parts of Washington and Oregon, "very unhealthy" in Spokane, and at least "unhealthy" across most of the area.

On September 5, ash from the Central Washington fires fell "like snow" on Seattle and as far west as Grays Harbor County which borders the Pacific Ocean.[10][11][12] University of Washington meteorology professor Cliff Mass said the situation in Seattle with "a smoke cloud so dense one would think it is low stratus deck" was unprecedented in his 30 years of experience.[13] The Air Quality Index reached "hazardous" in Spokane, the worst of six levels; it had reached hazardous the day before in Newport, Washington, the worst in the country.[14]

On September 5, Cle Elum-Roslyn School District announced the start of the school year would be postponed, and on the 6th, all classes and events in Ellensburg School District were canceled until September 11, due to unhealthy indoor air quality.[15][16]

The first significant rain wasn't until after mid September.[17] By the end of the summer, the official weather station at Sea-Tac, representing Western Washington's conditions, had recorded the hottest, driest summer since recordkeeping began with just over 0.5 inches (13 mm) of rain.[18] Eastern Washington also had a very dry year with Spokane setting a new record of 80 days without measurable rain.[19] A climate scientist at University of Idaho said that the extremes caused greater fire activity and were due to climate change, but not necessarily linked to human causes.[20]

List of fires
Wildfire warning published online by National Weather Service for Washington State over Labor Day weekend 2017

Resources
An RC-26 like this one was deployed to Spokane. Aircraft used for 2005 New Orleans floods pictured.

An infrared thermography-capable RC-26 surveillance aircraft and support crew from Washington Air National Guard were deployed to Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane on August 12 in support of firefighting.[31][32]

On August 29, the Washington Military Department's Emergency Operation Center at Camp Murray was activated in response to the Jolly Mountain Fire.[33]

On September 5, the U.S. Army said 200 Washington-based soldiers were to be trained and sent to the Umpqua North Complex fires in Oregon's Umpqua National Forest.[34][35]

Further reading
  • Stevens, Matt (August 1, 2017), "Pacific Northwest Fires Smother Region in Smoke and Ash", The New York Times

References
  1. Tyrone Beason (September 2, 2017), "Wildfire risk prompts Inslee to declare statewide emergency", The Seattle Times
  2. Kristian Foden-Vencil (April 14, 2017), It's Raining, But Wildfire Season Is Starting In Washington, Oregon Public Broadcasting
  3. Ready for the 2017 Wildfire Season, Washington Department of Natural Resources, archived from the original on September 4, 2017
  4. Cliff Mass (August 1, 2017), "Smoke Pushes Into Washington State", Cliff Mass weather blog
  5. "Smoke from British Columbia fires shrouds Northwest with poor air quality, dubbed 'Smokezilla' by tweeters", Fox News, August 3, 2017
  6. "Lightning sparks fires in Cascades; some trails closed", Yakima Herald-Republic, August 14, 2017
  7. Seattle has never experienced this many days without rain, MYNORTHWEST.COM (KIRO-TV/KIRO radio), August 8, 2017
  8. Rain breaks Seattle's record dry streak, KING-TV, August 13, 2017
  9. "Gov. Inslee declares state of emergency due to wildfires", Spokesman-Review, Spokane, September 3, 2017
  10. Scott Sistek (September 5, 2017), Ash falls across Seattle area from fires burning in Central Washington, KOMO-TV
  11. Evan Bush (September 5, 2017), "Ash falls like snow in Seattle as wildfires rage in Pacific Northwest", Alaska Dispatch News, Anchorage
  12. John Hopperstad (September 5, 2017), Ash from wildfires falling in areas of Puget Sound, KCPQ-TV
  13. Cliff Mass (September 5, 2017), "Ash is Falling in Seattle", Cliff Mass weather blog
  14. Spokane air quality 'Hazardous' as smoke blankets region, KREM-TV, September 5, 2017
  15. School Start Delayed, Cle Elum-Roslyn School District, September 5, 2017
  16. Ellensburg schools closed due to wildfire smoke, Yakima: KIMA-TV, September 7, 2017
  17. Cliff Mass (September 12, 2017), "The Northwest's Summer Drought Will End on Sunday", Cliff Mass Weather Blog
  18. Cliff Mass (September 22, 2017), "Autumn Starts Today Following the Driest and Warmest in Seattle Records", Cliff Mass Weather Blog
  19. Spokane's streak without rain ends at 80 days, Spokane: Spokesman-Review, September 18, 2017
  20. Wilson Criscione (September 5, 2017), "University of Idaho researcher says summer wildfire smoke will become more common across Inland Northwest", The Inlander, Spokane
  21. "Wildfire forces evacuations at Washington state tourism spot". Fox News. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
  22. Associated Press (June 27, 2017). "Fires in Central Washington Cover More Than 11 Square Miles". usnews.com. Archived from the original on September 4, 2017. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
  23. "Diamond Creek Fire". inciweb.nwcg.gov. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
  24. "Firefighters getting a handle on wildfires in central Washington | The Spokesman-Review". spokesman.com. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
  25. Jesse Ferreras (August 31, 2017), "Massive Washington state wildfire jumps into B.C. between Manning and Cathedral Parks", Global News Morning, British Columbia, Canada
  26. "Noisy Creek Fire near Sullivan Lake grows to about 1,700 acres; no structures threatened", Spokesman-Review, August 1, 2017
  27. "500-acre wildfire in Grant County forces mandatory evacuations, knocks out power to Quincy | Q13 FOX News". q13fox.com. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
  28. Blinder, Alan; Caron, Christina (August 3, 2017), "Seattle Chokes as Wildfire Smoke From Canada Blankets the Northwest", The New York Times
  29. "SR 410 remains closed as crews work Norse Peak fire | Local". yakimaherald.com. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
  30. Eagle Creek fire jumps gorge into Washington, Seattle: KING-TV, September 5, 2017
  31. National situation report (PDF), National Interagency Coordination Center, September 5, 2017
  32. Bill Gabbert (August 16, 2017), Air Force reconnaissance aircraft is being used to detect and map wildfires in the Northwest, Fireaviation.org
  33. Kittitas County Emergency Operations Center activated for Jolly Mountain Fire, Yakima: KAPP-TV, August 29, 2017
  34. Ash and smoke prompt health warnings, shut down sporting events, expand burn ban, Associated Press, September 5, 2017 – via The Olympian
  35. 200 active duty troops from Joint Base Lewis-McChord to deploy to Umpqua North Complex, KVAL-TV, September 5, 2017
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