SPOKANE, Wash. – The ingredients for fires to rapidly spread were in place over most of the Pacific Northwest Friday, with firefighters in Washington state battling at least a dozen blazes.
According to Washington’s Department of Natural Resources, wildfires burning around Medical Lake and Coulee City were the most concerning, with thousands of acres burned and entire towns forced from their homes.
Firefighters nicknamed the wildfire burning around Medical Lake in Spokane County as the Gray Fire and said it had burned at least 3,000 acres as of Friday evening.
Wind gusts estimated to be around 35 mph were helping to drive flames toward the community, and at least one shelter was opened for evacuees.
Several buildings were reported to be lost to the flames, but it was unclear on the extent of the damage to homes and businesses.
The fire also forced transportation officials to close a large stretch of Interstate 90 in the eastern part of the state.
CALIFORNIA FIRES: NEARLY 60 NEW BLAZES ATTRIBUTED TO LIGHTNING STRIKES, EVACUATIONS ISSUED
Multiple agencies also worked a more than 700-acre fire near Coulee City that forced evacuations of homes in Douglas County.
There were no initial reports of damage from the flames, which occurred about halfway between Seattle and Spokane.
According to the local sheriff’s department, evacuation notifications were lifted on Friday evening; however, smoke from blazes around the state would likely continue to impact visibilities and air quality levels.
Most of the state was under fire weather alerts on Friday as low relative humidity and high winds caused conducive conditions for wildfires to quickly grow out of control.
WILDFIRE FORCES ENTIRE CAPITAL CITY OF CANADA’S NORTHWEST TERRITORIES TO EVACUATE
Washington was not the only region faced with a firestorm over the last few days, both Canada and California reported extensive blazes.
In Canada, nearly 20,000 people were forced out of the capital of the Northwest Territories by raging infernos and in the Golden State, at least 60 fires were started by intense lightning.
Despite the appearance of a busy time for first responders, the fire season in the U.S. got off to what officials said was a slow start compared to recent years.
The combination of a wet winter and spring is widely credited for delaying the start of what usually is an active period for fires across the western U.S.
The opposite appears to be true across Canada, where fires have burned more than 30 million acres, making 2023 the worst year on record, according to data from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.
Smoke has occasionally drifted into the northern U.S., triggering air quality alerts for more than 100 million residents.