Wildfire — Okanogan Valley, Washington

2020-09-07 to 2020-09-24 · Okanogan Valley, Washington

Event narrative

The Cold Springs Wildfire, 3 miles south of Omak, was ignited due to unknow causes late September 6th. It was fueled by a high wind event and grew rapidly. The wildfire became known as the Pearl Hill Wildfire when it crossed the Columbia River. Two adults were severely injured and one infant passed away. After numerous road closures and a total 55 structures lost, the total acres damaged grew to 413,653 with 8.4 million dollars cost fighting the fire. The wildfires were fully contained by mid-September.

Wider weather episode

Very dry and critical fire conditions over Eastern Washington during July and August produced dry fuels across the region. These fuels, with an incoming cold front's strong winds, created an outbreak of wildfires, blowing smoke, and dust late September 6th - 7th. These conditions ignited over 20 wildfires which destroyed hundreds of thousand acres of land, crops, and homes. 80 percent of the small town of Malden, and nearby Pine City, burned during a fast moving wildfire. There were over 500 miles of Interstate 90, state highways, and roads closed due to fires, low visibility from smoke and dust, and blocked from downed trees. One fatality and two severe injuries occurred when trying to escape one of the wildfires.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 920824. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.