Fires catch with Red Flag conditions

Several wildland fires were burning in the region last night as "Red Flag" conditions predicted by the National Weather Service proved accurate.

Around 8 p.m. fires along the Columbia River Road and Omak Lake Road were spreading in the windy and low-relative-humidity conditions that prompted an "immediate evacuation" order for a large area and closed roads. The Kartar Fire was estimated to have burned 1,700 acres before 9:30 p.m. The Omak Lake Road Fire a few miles north was still listed at 50 acres by that time, while a stiff wind blew straight out of the north in a reminder of conditions that turned much of that area into an inferno and took a life in 2020.

Earlier in the day, the Kewa Fire near the eastern edge of the Colville Reservation south of Inchelium burned 120 acres and had warranted a Level 2 (get set to go) evacuation warning.

The dry, windy conditions sparked many fires from Spokane to south of Toppenish, where the Tule Fire had burned more than 24,000 acres just east of US 97.

In Spokane and Spokane Valley four fires in populated areas and a heavy response at one time saw four fixed-wing aircraft and one helicopter fighting the largest of them. The Upriver Fire burned just 222 acres but prompted warnings, then immediate evacuations along Upriver Drive. It was just 10% contained by 11 p.m.

The Hwy 17 Fire south of Soap Lake and east of Ephrata started late Tuesday morning and burned up about 1,300 acres after a 40-year-old man rolled his Toyota RAV4. The fire was contained by 4:30 p.m. The driver may face pending charges as alcohol or drugs were a factor in the crash, a State Patrol memo indicates.

Conditions had already started turning by Friday, when a fire just north of Nespelem prompted heavy responses, with local firefighters and state Department of Natural Resources fire crews tackling it, along with two helicopters, to quash the blaze backed by a north wind pushing toward nearby homes. It burned a few acres but no homes.

One of those helicopters, a Huey with black and yellow paint job, dubbed Bumble Bee, has been stationed at Grand Coulee Dam Airport under contract to DNR for fire season. Airport Manager Bob Babler said that crew, in the nine days they've been in the area, was also on the fires in Spokane, on one near Chelan, and on the Juniper Dunes Fire in the southeast part of the state that burned more than 13,000 acres.

It's the middle of June in a year when climate scientists are seeing the emergence of an El Niño ocean current pattern that often ushers in hot dry weather in this part of the world. The fire crews might have a busy summer.

A helicopter dumps its wet payload on a fire north of Nespelem Friday. The crew has been out on at least four regional fires around eastern and central Washington, since being stationed for the season at Grand Coulee Dam Airport under contract with Washington state's DNR. - Scott Hunter photo