Big Number
425,000 acres. That’s how much land wildfires have burned in Washington so far this year in a particularly brutal fire season, according to Washington’s Department of National Resources. The state has seen over 1,000 wildfires so far this year, according to an update from officials on Friday, burning the most acres since 2021. Before Saturday’s blazes, firefighters were still working elsewhere in the state to contain 10 large fires burning across about 225,000 acres, according to an earlier statement.
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Weather Could Exacerbate the Fires
The National Weather Service previously issued a “particularly dangerous situation” alert for eastern Washington on Friday, warning that wind gusts reaching up to 50 miles an hour could cause new fires to grow rapidly. The NWS is now predicting “elevated fire weather” for Sunday, including 20-35 mph wind gusts and “very dry” conditions with 20-30% humidity.
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