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Weekend Rain Helps, But Northwest Wildfire Potential Still High

The Nena Springs fire is burning on the northeast border of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation near The Dalles, Oregon.
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The Nena Springs fire is burning on the northeast border of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation near The Dalles, Oregon.

A heat wave broke and the air quality improved in the Northwest as a cold front moved across Oregon and Washington, but fire officials are still on high alert. They reported 24 new wildfires over the weekend.



Measurable rainfall in much of the region last weekend, with the exception of southwestern and southcentral Oregon, helped dampen fire potential, but it wasn’t enough to keep current fires from growing. 



The Nena Springs fire on the northeast border of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation near The Dalles, Oregon, forced a number of evacuations over the weekend, which have since been lifted. The 40,000-acre fire is human caused. 



The 27,000-acre Diamond Creek fire is the largest burning in Washington. It’s in a wilderness area 30 miles north of Winthrop and five miles south of the Canadian border. 



Warmer temperatures and wind, especially on the east slope of the Cascade Range and near the Columbia River Gorge are forecast for later in the week. 

Copyright 2017 Northwest News Network

Emily Schwing
Emily Schwing comes to the Inland Northwest by way of Alaska, where she covered social and environmental issues with an Arctic spin as well as natural resource development, wildlife management and Alaska Native issues for nearly a decade. Her work has been heard on National Public Radio’s programs like “Morning Edition” and “All things Considered.” She has also filed for Public Radio International’s “The World,” American Public Media’s “Marketplace,” and various programs produced by the BBC and the CBC. She has also filed stories for Scientific American, Al Jazeera America and Arctic Deeply.