forest fires

Wildfires rage through the US West, with currently 33 going in the Pacific Northwest, 29 in Northern California, and 18 in the northern Rockies, with more surface burned so far this year than in any of the past ten years. Drought, hot weather, high lightning frequency, and a shortage of firefighters across the US all are contributing factors…Washington State is particularly stricken and when we drove to the North Cascades from Mt. Rainier, we came across at least two fires, one near Twisp and the other one around Chelan… The visibility was quite poor, due to the amount of smoke, and, while the road was open, we saw many burned areas with residual fumaroles and even a minor bush fire that was apparently let to die out by itself. The numerous orchards around had been spared, presumably thanks to their irrigation system.The owner of a small café and fruit stand on Highway 20 told us about her employee, who had taken the day off to protect her home, near Chelane, that had already burned down last year. Among 300 or so houses. Later on our drive north, the air cleared up, but we saw many instances of past fires, like the one below near Hart’s Pass, which occurred in 2003 and has not yet reached regeneration. Wildfires have always been a reality in this area, witness the first US smokejumpers being based (in 1939) at Winthrop, in the Methow valley, but this does not make it less of an objective danger. (Which made me somewhat worried as we were staying in a remote wooden area with no Internet or phone coverage to hear about evacuation orders. And a single evacuation route through a forest…)Even when crossing the fabulous North Cascades Highway to the West and Seattle-Tacoma airport, we saw further smoke clouds, like this one near Goodall, after Lake Ross, with closed side roads and campgrounds.And, when flying back on Wednesday, along the Canadian border, more fire fronts and smoke clouds were visible from the plane. Little did we know then that the town of Winthrop, near which we stayed, was being evacuated at the time, that the North Cascades Highway was about to be closed, and that three firefighters had died in nearby Twisp… Kudos to all firefighters involved in those wildfires! (And close call for us as we would still be “stuck” there!)