Two biggest Washington wildfires moving closer together

Plumes of smoke from central Washington area fires have reached 42,000 feet says Mark Wilkening with the Wenatchee Complex Incident Management Team. (Image courtesy Chelan County Emergency Management)

Fire crews battling multiple fires in central Washington report the state’s two biggest fires are now moving toward each other.

The Wenatchee River complex and the Table Mountain fire are moving closer together, fire officials have said.

The Seattle Times says it’s unclear whether this will be a help or more of a challenge for firefighters, as the fires may eat up one another’s fuel, or it could just merge into one massive blaze.

The spokesperson for the Wenatchee Complex Incident Management Team tells The Ross and Burbank Show that crews combating the two fires are communicating closely and working together.

He says outside of the merge, the weather may also provide some new challenges.

“There is some weather that’s moving in off the coast, and with that we’ll face some winds and also the potential for some additional dry lightning,” said Mark Wilkening.

Thousands of firefighters are battling dozens of wildfires that were sparked by lightning earlier this month up and down the east slopes of the Cascades. Many of the blazes are small and in remote areas, but all together the fires have covered more than 108 square miles.

The Wenatchee Complex is the largest fire burning in Washington. It has grown to about 65 square miles. It was last reported at 24 percent contained and is being fought by more than 2,000 firefighters.

The Table Mountain blaze is being fought by more than 750 firefighters and was 5 percent contained by Thursday night, fire managers said. It has not burned any homes, but 161 homes north of Ellensburg and in the Liberty area are under a Level 3 evacuation, meaning residents are urged to leave, Kittitas County Sheriff Gene Dana said Thursday.

Smoke from the fires is pouring across Eastern Washington, obscuring the air 200 miles away in Spokane. State officials have warned of hazardous air quality in Ellensburg and Wenatchee from the thick smoke. They are advising residents to stay indoors, limit physical activity, and keep doors and windows closed.

Air-quality monitors in Chelan County are reading in the hazardous and unhealthy ranges, the agency said. Chelan County Emergency Management tweeted out a Center for Disease Control fact sheet for symptoms to look out for concerning the health threat from wildfires.

Air quality is also getting worse in the Quincy area, and conditions could worsen around Spokane, Pullman, and Clarkston.

The fires have prompted the state to issue restrictions on logging and other industrial activities in the forests.

The Washington state Department of Natural Resources on Thursday announced a shutdown of all logging and industrial operations in the woods to avoid accidental starting of fires. The shutdown covers portions of Douglas, Chelan, Kittitas, Yakima and Klickitat counties.

Blewett Pass has also been closed for firefighting efforts. The Washington Department of Transportation says the highway is closed from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. from milepost 150 at the junction of Highway 970 to milepost 177, eight miles south of the junction of Highway 2.
Firefighters need the highway closed for back-burning and other fire containment operations.

Hundreds of people have been evacuated from their homes in the paths of the fires, but no homes have been destroyed by the blaze.

By JAMIE GRISWOLD, MyNorthwest.com Editor
The Associated Press contributed to this report.