Air Alert: No fires are burning in Tri-Cities so why does it smell like a campfire?

Air in the Tri-Cities area has been so smoky that the air quality has been rated as unhealthy at times over the past week, and smoky air may persist through Water Follies weekend.

The National Weather Service issued an air quality alert late Thursday afternoon until at least Friday evening for Kennewick, Richland, the Hanford site and western Benton County due to wildfire smoke. It predicted a smoky haze at least through Saturday night throughout the Tri-Cities.

In addition the Benton Clean Air Agency issued an air quality alert Thursday, saying that air quality could worsen.

The Retreat/Rimrock Fire burning 14 miles southwest of Naches in Yakima County was responsible for much of the smokiness late in the work week, said Brandon Lawhorn, lead meteorologist at the National Weather Service.

The fire, which started Tuesday, is putting off an impressive amount of smoke that is being blown down the Yakima Valley toward the Tri-Cities, he said.

As of Friday morning, more than 13,000 acres had burned and the fire was 0% contained, according to InciWeb.

In Prosser the air quality was rated as unhealthy for part of Thursday and in Kennewick the air quality was rated as unhealthy for sensitive groups for part of the evening.

The are quality recorded in the Tri-Cities area on Thursday was the worst since Monday evening when smoke blowing in from the Big Horn Fire seven miles southeast of Bickleton, Wash., left the Tri-Cities with an air quality rating of unhealthy.

2024 OR, WA fire season

A long and historic early season heatwave in the Pacific Northwest reduced moisture in vegetation that can fuel wildfires, according to the National Integrated Drought Information System.

“The extended extreme heat caused historic levels of evaporation across the Pacific Northwest landscape, which is now evident in extremely dry soils and fuels,” it said.

Drought in the Pacific Northwest is most severe in central Washington where part of the Cascade Mountains is in severe drought and in norther Idaho and Western Montana were conditions range from severe to exceptional drought.

Oregon, where the drought has been less severe, still has had an early and aggressive start to the wildfire season.

As of Thursday, Oregon had reported an estimate of about 900,000 acres burned so far in 2024, which was far above the 10-year average for late July, according to the National Integrated Drought Information System.

Four of the wildfires, including one that has repeatedly closed Interstate 84 in Eastern Oregon, are larger than 100,000 acres each, it said.

The Durkee Fire, which merged with the Cow Valley Fire, was the largest in the United States Thursday at 268,000 acres. It was 20% contained and not expected to be fully contained until Aug. 8. It is burning in brush, tall grass and timber.

I-84 which was closed Wednesday reopened Thursday morning between Pendleton and Ontario in Eastern Oregon, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation.

However, 41 miles of Highway 395 in Eastern Oregon remained closed Friday morning due to fire.

This story was originally published July 25, 2024 at 5:26 PM.