Washington, 2001

Wildfire in Washington, July 9 to 23, 2001

July 9 to 23, 2001 · NWS OTX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 wildfire, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
4
Injuries
4
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Spokane, WA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 9, 7:30 PM PST, 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 9, 7:30 PM PST, 30 minutes before
EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NORTH IDAHO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WASHINGTON
830 PM PDT MON JUL 9 2001

SOME SMALL BUILDUPS OCCURRED ACROSS THE EXTREME SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF
THE FORECAST DISTRICT BUT HAVE NOW DISSIPATED. WE WILL UPDATE THE SFP
TO TAKE OUT THUNDERSTORM WORDING FOR THIS EVENING. MAIN FOCUS IS HOW
MUCH CLOUD COVER WE WILL GET OVERNIGHT FROM THE CONVECTION/MONSOONAL
MOISTURE OVER SOUTHERN OREGON AND NORTHERN CALIFORNIA THIS EVENING.
THIS CLOUD COVER COULD MAKE OUR OVERNIGHT LOWS A BIT HIGHER. LATEST
IR AND VIS SATELLITE TREND SHOWS THE THUNDERSTORM CLOUD DEBRIS MOVING
CLOSER TO WASHINGTON. GOES 00Z HIGH DENSITY WINDS ACROSS THE WEST
FROM 700 MB TO AROUND 350 MB ARE SOUTHERLY FROM 20 TO 40 KNOTS...
THEREFORE I EXPECT THE HIGH CLOUDS WILL ENTER THE DISTRICT LATER THIS
EVENING AND STAY WITH US THROUGH MUCH OF THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. WE WILL
BUMP UP THE LOWS A BIT FOR ALL LOCALITIES IN THE ZFP WITH THE EVENING
UPDATE. DEBRIS CLOUDS WILL BE WELL INTO SOUTHERN ALBERTA BY TUESDAY
MORNING SO THIS WILL NOT HAVE ANY EFFECT WITH TUESDAY'S MAX TEMPS OR
SUNSHINE.

LATEST ETA NOW STARTING TO TRICKLE IN AND CONTINUES TO SHOW THE HOT
WEATHER CONTINUING THROUGH WEDNESDAY. MOISTURE WILL INCREASE A LITTLE
EACH DAY WITH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING HAVING THE BEST CHANCE FOR
CONVECTION ACROSS THE ENTIRE FORECAST AREA. LATEST FORECAST LOOKS
LIKE IT HAS THIS LATEST THINKING COVERED SO NO UPDATES ARE PLANNED
FOR TUESDAY'S AND WEDNESDAY'S FORECAST WITH THE EVENING UPDATE.

...THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRODUCT CONCERNING WARNINGS AND FORECASTS
IS VALID ONLY AT THE TIME OF ISSUANCE. THE LATEST WARNING AND
FORECAST INFORMATION WILL BE FOUND IN THE APPROPRIATE PRODUCTS...

GEG 063/094/062/090 00-2
CQV 059/098/059/094 00-1
SPT 057/092/057/087 00-2
COE 059/093/057/089 00-2
WWP 057/090/055/086 0123
LWS 069/097/065/093 0123
PUW 057/091/056/087 0012
EAT 069/096/:066/091 0012
MWH 064/098/061/093 0012

.GEG...NONE.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Okanogan

When
July 9, 8:00 PM PST to July 23, 5:00 PM PST
Where
Okanogan County, 20 mi N of Winthrop
Deaths
4 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries
4 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
PARK/FOREST SERVICE
Coordinates
48.549, -119.741 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The "Thirtymile" wildfire was in the mop-up stages on July 10 when excessively hot and dry conditions that afternoon caused the smoldering fire to blow up. The fire came roaring back to life, quickly spreading from 25 to 2,500 acres in just three hours. The quickly-spreading fire overran a group of 14 firefighters, causing members of the group to deploy emergency shelters. Four members of the group perished (direct), and four others were hospitalized with injuries. The Thirtymile fire was contained on July 23 after burning a total of 9,300 acres. The cost of fighting this fire exceeded $4.3 million.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

EventDateAgeSexWhereKind
Wildfire, Okanogan2001-07-0930MaleOutside/Open AreasDirect
Wildfire, Okanogan2001-07-0921MaleOutside/Open AreasDirect
Wildfire, Okanogan2001-07-0919FemaleOutside/Open AreasDirect
Wildfire, Okanogan2001-07-0918FemaleOutside/Open AreasDirect

What these are

Wildfire
A fire burning in wildland vegetation, with its acreage and damage where known.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Washington in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, July 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5259483.