2017 Washington wildfires
The 2017 Washington wildfires were a series of wildfires that burned over the course of 2017, a year that set weather records for heat and aridity in both Western Washington and Eastern Washington. Timeline of events Fire season officially began on April 15. Training of state fire crews was conducted in May, as well as training of Washington National Guard in helitack insertion for fire crews. On the morning of August 1, smoke from BC fires pushed into the Seattle area, rapidly making Mount Rainier invisible on a cloudless day. In early August, heavy smoke from British Columbia over Seattle earned the social media title "". Mid-month, several large fires in the state's Cascades Range were ignited by lightning. On August 8, the city of Seattle recorded 52 straight days without rain, a new record. The first measurable rainfall at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac) was 0.02 inches in mid-August, setting a record 55 day dry streak. On September 2, the Governor of Washington, Jay Inslee, declared a state of emergency across all Washington counties due to wildfires. On September 5, ash from the Central Washington fires fell "like snow" on Seattle and as far west as Grays Harbor County which