How bad is air quality in WA? What to know as Bear Gulch Fire smoke spreads

The Bear Gulch Fire has been burning for nearly a month in the southeast part of the Olympic Peninsula, sending smoke drifting into the Puget Sound region.

As of Tuesday, Aug. 5, the wildfire had grown to nearly 5,000 acres, according to federal interagency disaster information resource Inciweb.

That’s affected air quality in the Seattle area The Seattle Times reported Monday, with some parts of the city and nearby suburbs reporting unhealthy levels of pollution for sensitive groups.

Will the wildfire continue to hurt air quality in the Puget Sound region? Or will its effects die down as cool, wet weather arrives in the region?

Here’s what to know:

Where is the Bear Gulch Fire? When did it start?

The Bear Gulch Fire started on July 6 by the Mount Rose Trailhead near the Olympic National Forest’s Lake Cushman, according to InciWeb.

As of Tuesday, Aug. 5, it had spread to 4,936 acres, increasing more than 1,000 acres from Friday, Aug. 1.

Last week, the Mason County Sheriff ordered an evacuation of certain areas on the north side of the lake.

The fire was at 3% containment as of Tuesday.

How does wildfire smoke impact Washington air quality?

Air quality ratings improved quickly following Monday’s spike, according to the Washington State Department of Ecology’s air quality map.

Air quality was within the range of what’s considered normal on Tuesday, the map indicated.

“Yesterday afternoon and evening, Ecology’s monitoring network observed hourly concentrations corresponding to the ‘moderate’ range of the Air Quality Index across western Washington,” Beth Friedman, the Department of Ecology’s lead air quality modeler and atmospheric scientist, said in an email.

“Low-cost sensors at higher elevations in the Puget Sound region also recorded measurements corresponding to ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’ air quality,’” Friedman said. “These smoke impacts were fairly short lived. Air quality across Western Washington has returned to ‘good’ this morning.”

According to the Department of Ecology, the Air Quality Index scores are in either the “good” (zero to 50) or “moderate” (51 to 100) categories for the entire Puget Sound region.

As of 2 p.m. Tuesday, the worst air quality in western Washington was recorded in Anacortes, which had an AQI score of 75, followed by Port Townsend at 75.

The Puyallup monitoring site recorded a score of 56, while the Enumclaw and North Bend sites were only a few points behind at 52. The rest of the region saw scores within the “good” range.

Further inland, an AQI of 62 was recorded at both the Mount Rainier and Cle Elum sites.

Friedman said that people outside of the immediate area around the Bear Gulch Fire aren’t at much risk of breathing in unhealthy air.

“The greatest threat right now is to the health of the firefighters on the fire lines, and the communities closest to the fire that may receive evacuation orders,” Friedman said.

Will wet, cool weather impact smoke from fire?

While it’s too early to know exactly how the wildfire smoke will impact the region going forward, Friedman said that air quality is expected to improve as rainy weather hits the region in the coming days.

“This week, we expect smoke impacts from the Bear Gulch Fire to improve; forecasted rain and cooler temperatures in Western Washington should dampen the fire’s behavior,” Friedman said.

However, the cool weather is expected to give way to a stretch of dry days, which Friendman said could make conditions worse.

“This reprieve in fire weather conditions is a great time to prepare your home with a fresh air filter and make sure your emergency kit has a supply of masks, in case conditions worsen in the future,” Friedman said. “We’re keeping an eye on potential warm and dry weather early next week that could increase smoke production from the Bear Gulch Fire.”

The National Weather Service’s forecast for Olympia currently shows rain showers starting Tuesday night and continuing through Wednesday, and possibly Thursday morning as well. Hot, dry weather returns ahead of the weekend, with the high temperature expected to reach 87 degrees Fahrenheit on Sunday.

Tacoma’s forecast shows a similar pattern, although the high on Sunday is only expected to reach 75 degrees.

This story was originally published August 5, 2025 at 3:11 PM with the headline "How bad is air quality in WA? What to know as Bear Gulch Fire smoke spreads."