Washington wildfires 2014

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The Carlton Complex on July 21, 2014

The 2014 forest fires in Washington were a series of 1,480 forest fires that covered a total of 1,566 km² in Washington state , destroyed around 300 buildings and killed one person. The first fires broke out on the east side of the Cascade Range in Chelan and Okanogan Counties . The fires destroyed private and public land in the Okanogan and Wenatchee National Forests , eventually covering over 1,400 km². The first fire broke out on July 8 near the Entiat River . On July 14, a thunderstorm caused dozen more fires in the Eastern Cascade Range. Governor Jay Inslee called the interior state of emergency and mobilized the National Guard of Washington, part of the National Guard of the United States . Further lightning strikes in late summer caused further fires.

Mills Canyon Fire

The Mills Canyon Fire burned 91.3 km² in Chelan County. The fire raged south of the Entiat Rier and west of US Route 97 (Alternative Route in Washington) and the Columbia River in the Entiat Mountains . It started July 8th and the cause is still being investigated.

Fire caused by lightning on July 14th

Satellite image of smoke development from July 18, 2014

A series of fires was triggered by lightning strikes on July 14th.

Carlton Complex

The Carlton Complex in infrared false color display on July 31, 2014. Burned vegetation appears red; the most heavily burned areas are generally the darkest. Unburned forests appear dark green. Used pastureland is light green; unburned grass and scrubland is light brown; Rivers are navy blue. The scale at the bottom left indicates 5 km.
Weeks after a 2014 fire that destroyed much of the small town of Pateros, that was all that remained of several blocks of houses that burned to the ground.

The Carlton Complex (covering an area of ​​1,036 km²) started with four separate fires caused by lightning strikes on July 14th in the Methow River Valley in Okanogan County: the Cougar Flat, the French Creek, the Gold Hike and the Stokes fire. These fires united and spread rapidly to the southeast on July 17th; an estimated 300 houses mainly in and around Pateros and Malott were destroyed. The boroughs of Brewster , Carlton and Methow were also threatened by fire. The energy supply for Twisp and Winthrop collapsed. Several roads had to be closed: Washington State Route 20 east of Twisp to Loup Loup Pass , Washington State Route 153 between Twisp and Pateros, and US Route 97 between Pateros and Brewster. Rainfalls contained the fires on July 24th, so that the fire brigade units got about 60% of the fires under control on July 26th. On August 1, a new fire broke out along State Route 20 south of Winthrop.

The Carlton Complex was the largest forest fire ever recorded in Washington, also surpassing the so-called Yacolt fire of 1902. One death from heart failure is attributed to the fire. The forest fire-fighting effort employed nearly 3,000 people and several aircraft, including seven Washington National Guard Sikorsky UH-60 helicopters and a fire-fighting McDonnell Douglas DC-10 .

Chiwaukum Creek Fire

Northwest of Leavenworth in the Chiwaukum Mountains , this fire took up an area of ​​56.2 km². It required the closure of US Route 2 and the evacuation of nearly 900 homes threatened in the Coles Corner , Winton and Plain communities . A rising pyrocumulus cloud could be observed even in far away Seattle . Parts of the Chiwaukum Creek Fire burned on the northeastern border of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness .

Duncan Fire

With an area of ​​51 km², the Duncan Fire raged in the upper Eintiat River catchment area. It began on a ridge between the Entiat River and the North Fork Entiat River and eventually expanded eastward beyond the North Fork.

Kelly Mountain Fire

In the Entiat Mountains near Tommy Creek, the Kelly Mountain Fire destroyed 0.5 km².

Lone Mountain Fire

In the catchment area of ​​Boulder Creek northeast of Stehekin, the Lone Mountain Fire destroyed 11 km². It raged in Lake Chelan National Recreation Area , part of the North Cascades National Park .

Fire caused by lightning on August 2nd

  • Devil's Elbow Complex - 100 square kilometers. This complex consisted of four fires on the Colville Indian Reservation north of Keller in Ferry County . The fires required Washington State Route 21 to be closed .
  • Hansel Fire - 4 km². The Hansel Fire raged near Ingalls Creek and US Route 97 in Chelan County.
  • Little Bridge Creek Fire - 20 sq km. Between the Twisp River and State Route 20 in Okanogan County.
  • Shoofly Fire - 0.65 km² in the upper Little Wenatchee River basin in Chelan County.
  • Snag Canyon Fire - 51 sq km. North of Ellensburg in Kittitas County, the Snag Canyon Fire destroyed six homes.
  • Upper Falls Fire - 33 sq km. This fire raged in the Okanogan National Forest west of the Chewuch River .

South Cle Elum Ridge Fire

This fire was observed on August 7th in Wenatchee National Forest southwest of Cle Elum in Kittitas County and destroyed 3.6 km².

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 2014 year-end fire statistics . Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  2. ↑ a b Mills Canyon Fire . InciWeb: Incident Information System. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  3. ↑ a b Wildfire near Leavenworth closes stretch of Highway 2 . In: Seattle Times and wire services , YakimaHerald.com, July 17, 2014. Archived from the original on July 19, 2014. 
  4. ↑ Homes destroyed by wildfire total 300, Okanogan sheriff says . In: The Associated Press , The Seattle Times, July 25, 2014. Archived from the original on July 27, 2014. 
  5. ↑ a b Nicholas K. Geranios: Damage from Washington Wildfires 'Hard to Believe' . In: The Associated Press , Boston.com, July 19, 2014. Archived from the original on July 19, 2014. 
  6. ↑ a b Carlton Complex . InciWeb: Incident Information System. Retrieved July 21, 2014.
  7. ^ A b Crews plan controlled burn near Carlton complex wildfire . In: The Seattle Times , July 26, 2014. Archived from the original on July 27, 2014. 
  8. ↑ a b Joseph O'Sullivan: Firefighting crews hunker down for long haul . In: The Seattle Times , July 21, 2014. Archived from the original on July 22, 2014. 
  9. ↑ a b c d e Chiwaukum Complex . InciWeb: Incident Information System. Retrieved July 21, 2014.
  10. ↑ Fire Update for Mills Canyon, Chiwaukum, Kelly MT n, & Duncan Fires . InciWeb: Incident Information System. July 19, 2014. Archived from the original on July 19, 2014.
  11. ↑ Duncan Fire . InciWeb: Incident Information System. Retrieved August 9, 2014.
  12. ↑ Lone Mountain Fire Update — July 21st am . North Cascades National Park, US National Park Service. July 21, 2014. Retrieved July 21, 2014.
  13. ^ Lone Mountain 1 Fire . InciWeb: Incident Information System. Retrieved July 21, 2014.
  14. ↑ Devil's Elbow Complex . InciWeb: Incident Information System. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  15. ↑ Little Bridge Creek Fire . InciWeb: Incident Information System. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
  16. ^ Snag Canyon Fire . InciWeb: Incident Information System. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  17. ^ Molly Rosbach: Snag Canyon fire destroys 6 homes; area reduced to 1,830 acres . In: Yakima Herald-Republic , August 3, 2014. Archived from the original on August 4, 2014. 
  18. ^ Upper Falls Fire . InciWeb: Incident Information System. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
  19. ^ South Cle Elum Ridge Fire . InciWeb: Incident Information System. Retrieved August 8, 2014.

See also