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Kittitas Co. Emergency Response
Smoke and ash from the Table Mountain Complex wildfire is seen near a firefighters' base camp in eastern Washington.
Crews on Thursday were battling a fire that forced dozens of eastern Washington residents to flee overnight with their valuables. The fire sent pieces of burning bark flying miles away and created columns of smoke nearly eight miles tall, some even reportedly creating their own lightning.
The evacuations in the Mission Ridge area near Wenatchee add to the hundreds of people who earlier evacuated across the region due to fires raging over the last few weeks.
The new evacuations came as eight-inch chunks of burning bark were reported to have fallen in Mission Ridge. Those chunks were coming from an explosive fire inside the Table Mountain Complex some six miles away, a fire incident spokesman said.
That fire, along with others nearby, "have grown rapidly over the last few days, sending large smoke columns with burning embers north and east towards the Mission Ridge area," the incident team said in an update Thursday morning.
Some of those smoke columns topped 40,000 feet on Wednesday, incident spokesman Kent Ramsey told NBC station KING5.com.
The columns were so hot they generated their own winds, added National Weather Service meteorologist Dan Byrd. "It does create its own little atmosphere," he said, noting that the columns reportedly even created lightning on Wednesday. "We may see that again today," he said.
The region has seen no rain in more than a month, while temperatures have been high and humidity low. Winds have pushed fires into forests with many bug-killed trees that have become easily combustible.
One fire incident commander on Thursday called that combination of conditions so late in September "unprecedented" in his 28 years of firefighting.
Washington state firefighters say three fires currently burning could merge into one massive blaze. KING's Jim Forman reports.
In the Mission Ridge area, the residents of some 150 homes were told to evacuate, but some were determined to stay -- at least for now.
The Table Mountain Fire Complex is actually four fires that have so far burned 30,000 acres within the Wenatchee National Forest. The fires, and dozens of others in eastern Washington, were started by lightning strikes earlier this month.
A second Table Mountain fire on Wednesday caused the closure of Highway 97 for several hours.
The complex of fires was just 4 percent contained on Thursday morning.
Dozens of residents around Liberty, Wash., were earlier told to evacuate.
NASA
This satellite-based image shows major fires burning in Washington state on Wednesday.
In Liberty itself, a town of several dozen, some residents were preparing to leave if an evacuation order is issued there.
"This time we're watching it pretty close, real close," Larry Smith told KING5.com as he and his wife packed up.
But Paul Heit told KING5.com that he wasn't packing just yet.
"If I see flames coming over the hill and it's coming 80 miles per hour," he said, "yeah, I'll probably leave."
Some 5,000 firefighters are battling the eastern Washington fires, the largest of which is the Wenatchee Complex at nearly 40,000 acres. Nearly 2,000 firefighters have been deployed there but that complex of fires is just 12 percent contained.
The fires have created bad air quality for residents, especially in Wenatchee, Leavenworth and Cashmere, where the school district suspended classes for the week as a result.
Heavy dust has also covered parts of the region. Some locals have even said the conditions are worse than when the Mount St. Helens volcano blew in 1980, sending ash across the state.
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We have relatives in Wenatchee and they are coming to stay in Seattle to get away from all the smoke. I guess the air conditions are becoming hazardous.
Yes, the stagnic air with the smoke has raised the index to 85 here in Spokane. Very smokey outside.
Might we have to chalk up another disaster to the effects of global warming?
Take care, all my friends in the beautiful Columbia River Valley.
Yeah it can't have anything to do with the enviro's keeping us from logging in the national forests so we can get rid of bug killed trees. No it couldn't be that it's gotta be global warming, oh and George Bush.
Bug killed trees? You realize that you just quoted a consequence of global warming (insects moving northward as the climate warms and it become suvivable for them to do so) as a way of saying that global warming doesn't exist?
Fueler:
It's a combination of both global warming and bark beetles, etc. I'm a former logger and I know the number of trees and acres of forest the bugs have devastated are ripe for fires. They should have been logged while the timber was still merchantable. But there's more to it than eco-lobbyists and tree huggers. Unfortunately, everyone of us has ash on our hands.
@Darrel B. - Poor logging practices (clear cutting) is a major contributor to why these forests are going up so quickly. They are second and third growth forest areas that have grown back too densely and fire prevention has allowed undergrowth to get too thick. I've spent years hiking in those areas and was just there a few days ago. Parts of the forest that have not been clear cut have fires, but they are burning/smoldering at ground level burning off low level brush and trees. Larger trees are fine.
This is a combination of poor logging practices creating too densely populated forest and warming climate that allows bark beetles to spread easily and quickly and fires to spread more easily.
Just cutting the trees all down is not the right answer.
Our family vacations in the surronding areas, wonderful people and it's beautiful there. Prayers are with you all, Bless all those firefighters.
Eastern Washington? I think you mean central Washington. Just because it's east of Seattle doesn't make it 'eastern Washington'
Do you live hear? I do - when it's east of the cascades, it's referred to as eastern washington. Mainly because of the different climate and very obvious topographical division.
As long as your taxes come to us on the western side of the state we don't care what you guys call yourselves. We need another new stadium after all :-)
Looks more like Mount Hood blew it's stack!
I can remember past fires like this one where the news article also had a different article or link that showed how people affected by fires could purchase a product that almost made there homes or any burnable structure fire proof!
With this years fire season worse than I've ever seen before I wonder why there hasn't been any such story put out here to try to help people protect there homes and property by telling people about about their options before they face fires like these?
There are many products out there but the one I am referring to comes in a 5 gallon pail I believe and when mixed with water and spayed on a dwelling it fireproofs the structure for a few days I think, it comes in kit form with a sprayer for the hose helps in applying the product. The product does not damage paint or siding and is biodegradable so to me its a win win.
I do not work for any of these companies but I wish I could get the word out to people affected that there is a way to possibly save your homes and all that's in them if people only knew about it before its to late or even after the fire destroys everything a person has.
How about it NBC? Any chance of finding out what the product was a helping people rather than just reporting about there losses after the fire destroys everything they have?
What is the name of the product you are speaking of? That might be helpful for those in the area wanting to be prepared the next time.
Sorry I do not have the name of the product or I would have written it with my comment. MSNBC did an article on the product back maybe 2 years ago I think, they had shown how when the product was applied to a wooden shed the shed did not burn but an untreated shed went up like a matchstick.They had a local fire dept handy in case anything went wrong but everything went great, it was a fantastic product in my opinion and I wish I had saved the article as I believe it could help so many people.
Do a search for fire proofing the outside of your home and maybe you'll find the article. I Wish I knew what it was called but I cannot for the life of me remember it and that's why i was hoping someone from NBC here would rerun the article.
We will keep all of you in Washington in our thoughts and prayers, especially the brave firefighters! We are from Washington still have many family and friends there, now live in Co and have been through the terrible fires here. Rain Rain don't stay away, We need for you to come today!
Be strong my friends. I don't always fight fires, but when I do, I drink Dos Equis Beer when I am done.
I just drink when the day is over. Don't matter if I'm fighting fires or replacing a pump on a vessel out at sea. Work is work, and fighting a fire is work, but fighting a caldera is fighting mother nature, and that is more than work, that is hell...
Isn't this almost always nature doing what nature does?
I'm sure if a politician can spin it for 1 vote they'd spend millions of our tax dollars to do so though..
So very glad that my family left the area at the beginning of fire season this year. There haven't been fires for the past two summers so it was due. Get well soon, Cascade mountains!
The image of a fire putting up clouds of smoke so big it causes lightning... that's pretty epic! Hopefully all of these fires we're having now will help clear out the kindling so that future fires will be a bit more natural and manageable.
I was through that area yesterday afternoon. In Ellensburg it was 90 degrees and the air was not to smokey, although you could see the large smoke cloud to the north. By the time I made it to George WA, 40 miles to the east I was under and in the smoke cloud. It was 73 degrees and no fun breathing. You could not see where the sun was in the sky and most cars had their lights on.
I live in rural Eastern Washington state and this morning when I went out to my car, it was covered with ash and I could see it falling down through the air. Plus there is a moderately strong smeell of smoke in the air. Thus, many people with asthma are having flare-ups, not surprisingly, plus people are wearing filter masks on their faces, even if they don't have asthma.. The sun has a circle of red and yellow around it from the smoke, which looks like a light fog from ground level up.
Most people here say it is the worst problem with ash in the air since Mt. Helena blew.
In the spokane area around 3 o'clock pm,you can see smoke like mist through the trees.The inversion is keeping most of the smoke down low. Way too much fun for this person.Lovely burning sensation in your throat.We need some moisture with light winds to get rid of this. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Hi Honey, I love you.
Pray that the fire will be contained; and no one gets hurt.
Dear Friends:
I pray for all of you in Idaho and Washington! These news weather reports are a little fearful!
Tell my Brother Bill Diggs I sent a message! Don't get burned by flying burning bark, smoke or anyother way! Love Bill.
God Watch over all these folks and please protect them. We have some who have no communication living far out or without jobs. Watch over them with the Holy Spirit and Heal their wounds and fear. Give them strength and your wisdom and love. Amen. Amen. Amen.
Mankind put the fires out! Amen. + XOXOXOXO xoxoxo
Critical times hard to deal with, will be here.
if they would quit spraying all those chem trails every time a weather front comes in it looks like a tic tack toe borad in the sky then you get the orange blue red sunset we are being sprayed like bugs look it up chem trails