Update:Red flag fire warning issued for Tri-Cities area. Why sky has been hazy with smoke
Smoke drifting into the Tri-Cities on the weekend was from a wildfire burning in Klickitat County near Bickleton, Washington.
The air quality in the Tri-Cities deteriorated from good to moderate starting Friday afternoon and continuing into the weekend, according to Washington’s Air Monitoring Network.
The smoke could clear Monday, according to the National Weather Service forecast.
A red flag fire warning was issued for the Tri-Cities, Wash., area and stretching as far west as The Dalles, Oregon, and Yakima, Washington.
The warning was initially to extend through Sunday due to breezy weather, low afternoon humidity and high temperatures.
A fire weather watch was issued from 1 to 8 p.m. Monday, and then updated to extend the red flag fire warning until 11 p.m. Monday.
Patching blowing dust also was forecast for Monday with wind gusts as high as 34 mph.
In the Tri-Cities, temperatures are expected to drop about 10 degrees from the weekend highs.
Highs in the low to mid 90s or upper 80s are forecast Monday through Sunday.
Benton County Fire District 1 sent an engine and other support to the Newell Road fire 17 miles east of Goldendale after the Washington State Fire Marshall authorized state mobilization Friday evening, with other Tri-Cities area fire agencies also expected to pitch in.
The fire had grown to nearly 47 square miles on Saturday. It was burning in grass, brush and timber and was threatening homes, farms, wheat fields, solar and wind farms, a landfill and livestock, according to the Washington Office of the State Fire Marshal.
Hillary Franz, Washington commissioner of public lands, posted on social medial Saturday that the fire has been one of the toughest to fight of the year so far, with high speed winds and dry fields.
This story was originally published July 22, 2023 at 11:32 AM.