Wildfires

201 Stories

Environment

A record high number of dead trees are found as Oregon copes with an extreme drought

Wildfires and a Western megadrought led to a historic die-off of evergreen trees in the state — nearly twice as bad as the previous worst year. Some researchers have dubbed it "firmageddon."
Juliana Kim
Health

Breathing the world’s worst air

Western Washington currently has some of the world’s dirtiest air due to smoke from wildfires in the Cascade Mountains. Fires have been burning for weeks, but people living close to the fire line say these past few days have been the worst conditions so far this year.
Casey Martin
Environment

Photos: Seattle ranked worst city in the world for air quality

Seattle ranked as the worst city in the world for air quality on Wednesday, October 19, 2022, as smoke from wildfires continued to engulf the region.
Megan Farmer
Environment

Will blankets of wildfire smoke be our new seasonal normal?

A former hotshot explains why necessary strategies for fighting wildfires on the west side of the Cascades result in so much smoke
Kim Malcolm

John O'Brien
Environment

Why haven't firefighters 'put out' the Bolt Creek fire?

More than a month has passed since the Bolt Creek fire started burning near Skykomish. Some residents are asking firefighters: Why haven't they put it out?
Paige Browning
Environment

WTF is happening to Seattle fall?

Seattle shattered weather records again over the weekend with a high of 88 on Sunday. But even if you enjoy the sun, it’s hard to have fun when the air is full of wildfire smoke and ash. There are now three major wildfires burning on the West side of the Cascades, and they'll likely be with us until the rain returns. The Seattle Weather Blog's Justin Shaw is here to help us wrap our heads around this dramatic combination of smoke and weather.
Patricia Murphy

Clare McGrane
Environment

Not just an Eastern WA issue; King County prepares for wildfires

For a long time, people on the west side of the Cascades assumed that wildland fires were an issue for those in Eastern Washington. But as conditions become drier and hotter across the western U.S., the wildfire threat is growing in all parts of the state, even the normally soggy parts.
Libby Denkmann

Hans Anderson
Environment

How long will smoky skies linger above Puget Sound?

The smell of the air around the Puget Sound today is... not pleasant. Some KUOW employees described it as "like a smoked ham" or "similar to a car backfiring". So, how long will we be living with this burnt ham, car backfiring, badly-made bonfire smoke? And what is breathing it in doing to our bodies?
Libby Denkmann

Sarah Leibovitz
Health

Western WA is covered by smoke again. But for how long?

There’s smoke in the air again this week, thanks to winds from the east that are bringing smoke from the Bolt Creek fire into the Puget Sound region. And an inversion is trapping that smoke close to the ground. Still, the air quality is not hazardous for most people.
Eilís O'Neill
Environment

Bolt Creek Fire has burned up to 8,000 acres, and many aren't evacuating

KUOW environment reporter John Ryan talks with Kim Malcolm about the Bolt Creek Fire.
Kim Malcolm

John Ryan

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