Fire crews spray water on rubble at the Lineage Logistics fire in Finley, Washington. The fire started on April 21. (Credit: Benton County Fire District 1) watch Listen (Runtime 1:08) […]Read More
An industrial lot in Walla Walla where two fires occurred on Monday. (Credit: Susan Shain / NWPB) Read A string of fires broke out in Walla Walla over the past […]Read More
A view of the Mount Pilchuck fire lookout in Washington. (Credit: Ham Hock / Flickr Creative Commons) Listen (Runtime 1:04) Read It’s bone dry and blisteringly hot across Washington state, […]Read More
Hotspots at the Lineage Logistics fire in Finley, Washington, flared up Tuesday because of high winds. The fire has been burning for seven weeks. (Credit: Benton County Fire District 1) […]Read More
Fire crews spray water on rubble at the Lineage Logistics fire in Finley, Washington. The fire started on April 21. (Credit: Benton County Fire District 1) Listen (Runtime 1:00) Read […]Read More
A helicopter pulled water from the Clearwater River while fighting the flames from the Hospital Fire in Orofino, Idaho August 29, 2023. (Credit: Lauren Paterson / NWPB) Listen (Runtime 3:16) […]Read More
Residents on Blue Canyon Road near Lake Whatcom have been issued a Level 2 evacuation warning as crews fight a roughly 30-acre fire that likely started due to lighting Monday evening.Read More
Aircraft flying recently on the Tunnel Five Fire in the Columbia River Gorge. (Courtesy: InciWeb) Read There’s a red flag warning and heat advisories in place throughout several areas of […]Read More
As the days get hotter and warmer, many Washingtonians are gearing up for the wildfires that will ignite across the region this year, causing smoky skies, evacuations and potentially devastating loss. Read More
A fire burned an estimated 1,000 acres on the Hanford nuclear reservation this weekend. The fire is now 100 percent contained, according to a Department of Energy spokesperson. (Courtesy: Benton […]Read More
The Cow Canyon Fire burns near Naches, Washington in August 2022. New funding from the federal government is earmarked to help Northwest communities become more resistant to wildfire. (Credit: Washington […]Read More
For decades, the federal government declared all forest fires in the West a destructive force. Now, it is viewed as a fundamental part of the western ecosystem. Lauren Gallup and Mary Ellen Pitney explain.Read More
A silhouette of a forest fire. Credit: Egor Vikhrev, Unsplash LISTEN (Runtime: 1:02) READ Many states are failing to adequately budget for wildfire costs before, during and after fires, according […]Read More
Pierce, Skamania and Clark counties have active wildfires after a warm and dry weekend.Read More
Since the wildfire disaster, 24 homes have been rebuilt in Malden. The mayor says the goal is to have the new fire station built by August 2023. (Photo by Geoff […]Read More
Listen (Runtime 1:21) Read The fire danger forecast for all of Benton County was raised to the level of VERY HIGH this week. This means restrictions for residents and farmers. […]Read More
Fire officials hope to avoid another Labor Day weekend marked by extreme fires.Read More
Temperatures in the Inland Northwest are still hotter than normal, and this week the region will also be more prone to fire danger and smoky air due to drought and wind.Read More
This year in north-central Washington has echoes of 2015, when the complex of fires across Okanogan County burned tens of thousands of acres on the reservation, closer to Omak, and shut down Highway 155 across the reservation for long stretches. What was true then is very possible now: The fires took out a lot of timber that the tribes harvest and use for revenue. Read More
First a drought. Then record heat. Now Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has declared a statewide wildfire state of emergency. Read More
The National Weather Serivce is warning of extreme fire danger Tuesday night and Wednesday. Lightning storms, dry conditions and winds are expected to combine Tuesday evening and Wednesday, priming Eastern Washington and North Idaho for wildfires.Read More
The National Interagency Fire Center said Tuesday that it’s the second earliest it reached what it calls preparedness level 4 on the 1-5 scale since 1990. It’s also only the fourth time in the last 20 years that it has reached the level 4 in June.Read More
A fire grew across state lines in Northeastern Oregon over the weekend, becoming the region’s largest blaze so far this year.Read More
Smoke forecasting is notoriously hard to do, but a new tool from the state Department of Ecology may help us anticipate hazardous air five days in the future.Read More
Severe drought has turned forests and grasslands into dry fuels, ready to ignite from a careless camper or a lightning strike. More people are building in areas bordering wildlands, expanding the so-called wildland-urban interface, an area where wildfires impact people the most. Invasive, highly flammable vegetation is spreading uncontrolled across the West.Read More
Just about every indicator of drought is flashing red across the western U.S. after a dry winter and warm early spring. The snowpack is at less than half of normal in much of the region. Reservoirs are being drawn down, river levels are dropping and soils are drying out.Read More
U.S. officials said Thursday they will try to stamp out wildfires as quickly as possible this year as severe drought tightens its grip across the West and sets the stage for another destructive summer of blazes.Read More
As the company weighs its options, two Washington state legislators sent a letter Tuesday to U.S. Congress members in Western states, urging them to find a solution to continue the SuperTanker’s operations, which they described as the “biggest and one of the best weapons in battling the catastrophic fires.”Read More
Peter Lancaster has always had a love for rabbits. But when he first saw a pygmy rabbit – perhaps what would become the most influential animal throughout his life – he didn’t know what it was. That began years of work to try and save the species, now endangered in Washington.Read More
A potato processing plant in the central WA town of Warden burned down in a dramatic overnight fire Thursday. It’s a hit to the already struggling NW potato industry. Read More
The Northwest could see a cooler and wetter winter this season, according to climate outlook models. Forecasters say it’s likely that a recently developed La Niña weather pattern in the Pacific Ocean will continue. That should lead to above average precipitation in Washington, Oregon and Idaho.Read More
At around 18,000 members, the Okanogan Highlands Fire Watch group continues to provide what members call valuable and lifesaving information. People post evacuation notices, fire maps and recovery resources throughout fire season. Daniel Pratt started the group in 2015 during another particularly bad fire season for Okanogan County.Read More
More Murrow News Stories MALDEN, Wash. (Murrow News 8) – A fire caused by an electrical wire destroyed 80% of the farming town Malden, located 35 miles south of Spokane. Whitman […]Read More
Nearly 300,000 acres in Washington burned in just one day over Labor Day weekend. That is almost unfathomable. But it happened. Why? What were the conditions that made for that explosive situation? Read More
Labor Day 2020 lived up to its name if you’re a firefighter. It was a day that set up for numerous fires in central and eastern Washington that have burned tens of thousands of acres, and possibly many more. At least 80 fires started in Washington in what officials call a historic fire event. Read More
On the other side of the country Joe Biden also addressed the fires, linking them to climate change. Read More
Air quality east of the Cascade Mountains has deteriorated as wildfires burn across Washington and Oregon. In Southern Oregon, the air is hazardous. In Central Washington, air quality is unhealthy for everyone.Read More
One hundred large fires are burning in 12 states across the West — but just five of them have been contained, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Read More
At least seven people have died in wildfires that are raging in Washington, Oregon and California, adding to the horrible toll from record-setting fires in 2020. "This could be the greatest loss of human lives and property due to wildfires in our state's history," Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said.Read More
Firefighters are stretched thin across the Northwest, and officials are trying to keep crews healthy with bagged lunches and smaller camps. So with near-record temps this weekend, they’re asking Labor Day revelers to please watch those campfires (though campfires are banned in much of Washington due to fire danger). And make sure chains on trailers and boats don’t drag and Read More
A dry cold front is expected to push into central and eastern Washington this weekend, bringing with it lots of wind from the north. That could fan the flames of fires, especially new starts that are just taking off. Winds could reach 15 to 25 miles per hour, with gusts around 40 miles per hour.Read More
The fire grew fast when it first started Tuesday, Aug. 18, quickly becoming the top priority in the state. Fire managers said Sunday night they were really pleased with the progress. Crews did burnout operations over the weekend, a method of basically fighting fire with fire.Read More
Firefighters are working to contain a large fire in north-central Washington. So far, the Palmer Fire has burned at least 6,000 acres and forced evacuations as winds pushed flames forward. It’s expected to grow, pushing north toward the Canadian border, in the coming days.Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee declared a statewide emergency Wednesday to help with fires burning in on the Olympic Peninsula and in central and eastern Washington. Read More
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown invoked the Emergency Conflagration Act late Wednesday night in response to the fire, which was burning about 500 acres at the time in the Mosier Creek area of the Columbia River Gorge, between Hood River and The Dalles.Read More
July started off cool, which lowered wildfire risks in Washington and Oregon. But a new outlook shows excessive heat and a lack of precipitation have helped to dry out fuels in southern and central Oregon and central Washington. In those areas that have been dealing with drought, the land is ready to burn.Read More
As wildfire season heats up, Washington fire managers are working out new ways for incarcerated people to help on the fire lines and stay safe during the coronavirus pandemic. Correctional crews have helped put out fires and work in fire camp kitchens for decades. And things are a little different this year.Read More
Firefighters are wrapping up after three days at this season’s first big wildfire in eastern Washington. As crews began heading home, the Saddle Mountain Fire had burned about 10,000 as of Wednesday, July 8, in steep terrain on part of the Saddle Mountain Wildlife Refuge.Read More
Washington fire managers say they’ve seen a significant number of wildfires in “every corner of the state.” So far this year, the state Department of Natural Resources says it has responded to more than 468 wildfires of varying sizes – nearly double the 10-year average for an entire fire season. But this year’s unprecedented uptick in the number of fires has an unforeseen Read More
A U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resource Committee on Tuesday asked federal lands officials about the nation’s readiness for wildfire season. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) warned that, with the calendar moving to mid-June, there isn’t much time left to prepare.Read More
