Fire danger continues in the Pacific Northwest as crews battle to contain Spokane blazes. A complex of three fires near Spokane in the eastern portion of Washington state has scorched more than 10,000 acres of land and destroyed hundreds of homes and structures since igniting last Saturday.

Firefighting Efforts

Crews have gained ground, shifting to the painstaking work of mopping up: hunting down and drowning the last pockets of heat behind the fire lines. By Friday, crews had pushed 150 to 200 feet inward from the perimeter in places, widening the ring of blackened, secured line.

A red flag warning is in effect for central and eastern Washington — including the Spokane area — and northern Oregon into at least Saturday night. These warnings are issued by the National Weather Service to warn of weather conditions that could lead to dangerous wildfire spread.

Gusty winds will persist Saturday afternoon after ramping up Friday, and along with very dry conditions, maintain concerning fire weather. Winds in the early afternoon Saturday will last for several hours. Most areas of the Pacific Northwest and Intermountain West will see winds of 15mph, but a few gusts could reach 20 to 25 mph at times.

High temperatures through the weekend and early next week will top out in the upper 80s to near-90 degrees, closer to normal summertime temperatures for the region and less intense than the heat fire crews had to contend with for much of the week.

Smoke from these blazes is also tanking air quality in parts of the Northwest. Stagnant smoke dropped air quality this week in the Pacific Northwest until winds Thursday and Friday cleared the worst of it from western locations, like Seattle and Portland, Oregon.

Original reporting: KEYT (Ventura/Santa Barbara) — read the source article.