Northeast Washington Fire Information

05/01/2026

As we get closer to fire season, a lot of work is already happening behind the scenes.

Agencies from across Northeast Washington recently came together for our annual spring interagency workshop. Local, state, federal, and tribal partners were invited to review last season, share lessons learned, and prepare for the year ahead.

The day included updates on weather, dispatch, aviation, and logistics, along with breakout sessions focused on coordination and communication before the season begins.

Many incidents in our area are managed by Type 3 Incident Management Teams. These are local teams made up of people who live and work in the communities they serve.

04/20/2026

Fire doesn’t always slow down after sunset. Under the right conditions, it can stay active or even pick up. In this case, heavy fuels were burning in place, which made the fire look intense even when it wasn’t moving quickly earlier in the day.

Later that night, the fire made a more significant run. Fire behavior isn’t always what people expect.

We’ll continue sharing examples like this as we get closer to fire season.

2025 Tacoma Creek Fire

04/13/2026

Game camera footage from the Crown Creek Fire (Sept. 3, 2025) near Northport, Washington.

It shows how quickly things can change once embers start landing.

All of this happened in about 20 minutes. It doesn’t take much. Even small embers can start new fires ahead of the main fire.

We’ll keep sharing examples like this as we get closer to fire season.

Footage: Bryan Maupin

04/07/2026

As we get closer to fire season, we’ll start sharing a few examples from last year to help explain how things can look out on the landscape. Here is one.

These two photos are the same scene. The photo on the top is a real image from the 2025 Tacoma Creek Fire. The one on the bottom has been altered to look more intense. At a quick glance, both look believable.

In some cases, a fire can reach conditions like the altered image, but not necessarily at the time the original photo was taken. Fires change quickly, and what you’re seeing in a photo doesn’t always reflect what’s happening in that exact moment.

That can create confusion on emerging incidents. We'll continue sharing examples and local context as we get closer to fire season.

03/28/2026

It’s been a quiet winter here on the page, but we’re starting to get things ready again as we head into fire season.

Conditions are starting to shift, so we’ll be sharing more information over the next several weeks to help everyone stay informed and prepared.

We’ll also be posting examples from last season to help explain how fires behave and how quickly things can change.

As always, we’ll focus on sharing clear, verified information when it matters most.

More to come.

(Photo from 2025 Tacoma Creek Fire in Northeast Washington)

03/26/2026

NE Operator Safety Trainings for 2026. Still lots of opportunities before fire season!

03/26/2026

10/01/2025

Crown Creek and Katy Creek Fires
FINAL Update
October 1, 2025

Quick Facts
Crown Creek Fire: Size: 14,192 acres | Start Date: August 29, 2025 | Cause: Lightning | Containment: 98%
Katy Creek Fire: Size: 4,680 acres | Start Date: August 30, 2025 | Cause: Lightning | Containment: 98%

Crown Creek & Katy Creek Fires: Repair work will continue on both Crown Creek & Katy Creek Fires. Repair work focuses on reducing future erosion and potential landslides along dozer and handlines, chipping fuels that were piled during suppression efforts (reducing fuel loads for future wildfires in the area) and restoring or improving roads that were impacted by heavy equipment or vehicular traffic, allowing better access for local residences and overall access back into public lands.

Thursday is the last operational shift for the incident management team. Crews will demobilize throughout today and tomorrow, either reassigning to regional fires or returning to local districts. The fires will lower in complexity and return to local jurisdictions (DNR, USFS, Stevens County Fire Protection District 11, Joint Fire Protection District 3-8). The jurisdictions will continue with remaining repairs and continue to patrol the edge for any remaining smoldering material near the line. Internal burning fuels will continue to produce smoke and fuels continue to consume. This is expected to continue until we receive significant rainfall or snow.
SEE SMOKE???

Smoke will be visible in places over the next few weeks or more. Partially and unburned fuels exist within the fires perimeter and will continue to smolder. In fire terms, areas of the Crown Creek and Katy Creek Fires have had a dirty burn - an area where unburned pockets of fuel are mixed with burned areas and susceptible to burning. These small pockets are unlikely to spread beyond the containment line. Smoke from interior burning is generally not a concern. If you do see some active burning close to the fire’s edge or burning that is a concern, please call Northeast Washington Interagency Communications Center (NEWICC) at 509-685-6900.

The Northeast Washington Interagency Incident Management Team 2 would like to thank everyone in the surrounding communities for their support of the firefighters and support personnel of the incident management teams.

Evacuations and Closures: All evacuations have been lifted. An area closure remains in effect on the Colville National Forest surrounding the Katy Fire, including Nancy Creek Road and Upper Nancy Creek Road.

📸: Josh Etringer, Isabelle Hoygaard, and Anjel Tomayko

09/30/2025

Crown Creek and Katy Creek Fires Update
September 30, 2025

Quick Facts
Total personnel: 176
Crown Creek Fire: Size: 14,192 acres | Start Date: August 29, 2025 | Cause: Lightning | Containment: 93%
Katy Creek Fire: Size: 4,680 acres | Start Date: August 30, 2025 | Cause: Lightning | Containment: 98%

Crown Creek Fire: Suppression repair continues throughout the fire. Woody debris that was removed during initial suppression is being chipped and sediment berms are being utilized to restore dozer lines constructed during suppression efforts. Roads are continuing to be graded where heavy equipment and vehicle damaged the roads (through rutting, washboarding, road surface failure and pothole development). Road repairs will allow better access for local residences and for overall public use.

Katy Creek Fire: Crews continue to grid and patrol the southwest edge of the fire where smoldering material remains. Repair work is continuing in the northwest edge of the fire, where hand crews are helping to reduce erosion and landslide potential by creating cross drains and placing berms back into steep suppression line with slash and material, where available. Numerous roads have been impacted by heavy equipment and vehicular traffic and need to be repaired. Crews are working on repairs along Carson Road.

Smoke will be visible in places over the next few weeks or more. Partially and unburned fuels exist within the fires perimeter and will continue to smolder. In fire terms, areas of the Crown and Katy Creek Fires have had a dirty burn - an area where unburned pockets of fuel are mixed with burned areas and susceptible to burning. These small pockets are unlikely to spread beyond the containment line. Smoke from interior burning is generally not a concern. If you do see some active burning close to the fire’s edge or burning that is a concern, please call Northeast Washington Interagency Communications Center (NEWICC) at 509-685-6900.

09/29/2025

The Katy Creek Fire provides a good example of a successful partnership between the Colville National Forest and Washington State Department of Natural Resources for proactive forest management through the Good Neighbor Authority (GNA). GNA allows the USDA Forest Service to enter into agreements with state agencies to do critical management work to keep forests healthy and productive. Washington State Department of Natural Resources has been completing projects, such as the Deadman Ridge Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project, on the Colville National Forest. This Project provided firefighters with a ready-made location to halt the Katy Fire’s advance.