Wildfire — Washington Palouse, Washington

2020-09-07 to 2020-09-14 · Washington Palouse, Washington

Event narrative

The Manning Road Wildfire, 13 miles northwest of Colfax, was ignited by unknown sources on September 7th. It was fueled by a high wind event and dry conditions. A total five structures were lost and acres damaged rose to 2,885 before containment a week later. The cost of fighting the fire was calculated at 250,000 dollars.

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 920992. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.