SPOKANE, Washington — Wildfires continued to burn across the western United States on Wednesday as hot, dry and windy conditions challenged firefighters in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and neighboring states, with large blazes threatening communities and straining firefighting resources.
In eastern Washington, fires around Spokane have forced the evacuation of about 60,000 people and destroyed at least 600 structures, according to local officials cited by the Associated Press. The fires remained uncontained, while dry and windy weather was expected to continue complicating suppression efforts.
Officials have also been battling major fires farther south and east. The Big Grass Fire, burning across eastern Oregon and southwestern Idaho, has consumed hundreds of thousands of acres of grassland and sagebrush. The blaze has threatened homes and other structures and prompted evacuations in Idaho's Owyhee County.
Idaho Governor Brad Little declared a fire disaster emergency in parts of the state in late July and authorized the deployment of Idaho National Guard resources to support suppression operations on the Big Grass Fire. His action followed prolonged hot and dry weather, severe drought and increasing wildfire activity that had placed additional pressure on firefighting resources.
The Bureau of Land Management also temporarily closed the North Fork Campground in Owyhee County because of risks to the public and firefighters involved in operations on the Big Grass and Peer fires.
Smoke from the fires has affected air quality across parts of the Pacific Northwest. NASA reported in late July that smoke from numerous large Oregon fires had spread across the region, prompting air-quality advisories in eastern Oregon. More than 10,000 firefighters were working on wildfires across Oregon at the time, according to the agency's account of the situation.
The National Interagency Fire Center has warned that fire activity has accelerated during the summer. Its August outlook said fire activity increased rapidly beginning in July and identified continued areas of elevated fire potential across parts of the West. The center has also forecast periods of hot, dry weather and strong winds that can increase the potential for rapid fire growth.
The combination of heat, low humidity, dry vegetation and wind has left firefighters confronting rapidly changing conditions across the region. Authorities continue to monitor fires, weather and evacuation zones as crews work to protect communities and infrastructure.
