[rbuzby]

Trail Closure Update: All trails beyond Hannegan Trailhead, including Hannegan Trailhead, Hannegan Pass, Hannegan Peak, and Ruth Arm trails are closed due to fire activity. All park trail and camp closures remain in effect.

[gb]

Viewed from Baker yesterday and today, everything east of Ruth Mountain shows an exceptionally thick pall of smoke. Some of this smoke (or from another fire) was covering Baker Lake in a variable smoke weft that reached to 5500' in that area as of 10 this morning - 10/29. I had light ash falling in the early part of the night. You would not see it with your eyes but a headlamp shown on the small particles. My lungs felt weird this morning.

[iron]

dixon's points are all valid. many fires are controlled or extinguished, but this only results in a longer-term issue that will result in more catastrophic fires. fires used to burn through more frequently, but because there was less fuel, they didn't burn as vigorously. additionally, old growth forests had giant trees that were somewhat fire resistant because of thick barks.

[D. Inscho]

Let it burn. It's not ironic that Copper Ridge fire lookout overlooks this area. Decades of fire suppression are consequential. While is is clear from the afternoon pyrocumulous blooms that this fire is incinerating ground-to-crown, some of the burn will remain in the understory.

[gb]

Yeah, but that is a different era. Forests in the hot summers we have been having are tinder dry. If a fire erupts in these conditions and it is possible to contain or put it out, the effort should be made. These fires are not the same as those of 30-40-50 years ago when letting it burn meant a fire of 1/2 to 50 acres in most cases or to 5,000-10,000 acres in Eastern Washington. The study referred to was based on different climatic conditions. Letting it burn currently means at peak season fires of 30,000 to 150,00 acres in Washington. In California it means fires of 250,000 to 800,00 acres devastating entire environments. Those fires will come to Washington as well as the climate continues to deteriorate. The health costs alone will be very large over time for people who live in locations where smoke tends to accumulate and last.

[altasnob]

Isn't this fire on the West side of the Cascades (draining down Chilliwack River)? Seems like a perfect candidate to "let it burn." No possibility of affecting any structures. Seems this fire does not meet North Cascades' policy of when to use fire suppression (well, unless you decide the trail there counts as "trail infrastructure" or you need to maintain endangered salmon spawning habitat):

[Cyclopath]

It's amazing we made it until the end of August before fire and smoke became a problem. This has been like a natural summer from 10 or 15 years ago.

[RossB]

Oddly enough, this fire still isn't on InciWeb. I'm guessing it is still relatively tiny, in a year of tiny fires (in the Washington Cascades and Olympics). This is especially notable given how warm it has been.

[philfort]

I think that area has been getting a bit of rain (I remember parts of Whatcom county got about an inch in early August), and maybe the late snowpack meant higher elevations aren't quite so dry as they would otherwise be with all the heat?

[rossb]

[D. Inscho]

[slabbyd]

Heavy smoke yesterday afternoon in the HWY20 corridor between about Crater Mtn and Rainy Pass. Cleared out by the time we reached Ross Lake. Saw a double rotor helicopter slinging what we asssumed was water heading south over Cutthroat Pass. Is there another fire somewhere east of Ross Lake?

[D. Inscho]

[Joey]

Here are the latest MODIS/VIIRS heat detections. Dark red is a detection within the prior 6 hours. When the map opens the clickable layer 'on top' shows the latest perimeter (pink area) hosted on the NIFC server. Click inside the perimeter and the data that is displayed includes fire name. View larger size in new window

[philfort]

Interesting that the Brush Creek one is burning right where there is another recent burn scar.