Where is the fire?
If you see smoke or fire … call 911 immediately.
Okanogan County Emergency Alert System
Sign up online at Okanogan County Alerts or by phone at 509-422-7206 to get alerts about county emergencies (e.g., wildfires, outages) by text message, email or phone, in the order you want to be notified.
Here are some top aids to help you keep track of wildfire in the valley.
Pine Forest Facebook page: Neighbors post updates about local fires.
WildCAD.net: From the Washington Interagency Communications Center, this features dispatch reports for recent incidents and tells you where smoke or fire has been reported and what firefighters found. Wildfires are listed by name of fire, township/range/section and latitude/longitude, size and status of fire. Pine Forest is Township 34N/Range 21E/Sections 17 & 20. Winthrop is latitude 48.47N, longitude 120.18W.
Okanogan County and Methow Valley Topics of Interest and News Facebook group: An unofficial but reliable page run by several county residents who monitor police and fire scanners and post information during emergencies. A private (closed) Facebook group; a group admin will approve your membership.
Methow Valley Fire Information Facebook group: A private (closed) Facebook page that monitors wildfire news in the Methow Valley. A group admin will approve your membership.
Okanogan County Fire Information: A recently created Facebook site focusing on Okanogan County, reporting on weather, fire, wind and other news.
Other useful fire sites
Northeast Washington Interagency Incident Management Team: A Facebook page akin to WildCAD.net, it posts fire reports and maps in areas further east of the Methow Valley.
InciWeb: Lists wildfires, their size and location. This is the agency that manages firefighting teams.
Fire Facebook pages: Each fire is named by location (e.g., Cedar Creek Fire) and is fought by a succession of teams usually starting with local firefighters like our Okanogan Fire District 6. Larger fires have a Facebook page that is updated morning and evening, with reports on size, location, maps, photos.
NW interagency Coordination Center: Provides links to a variety of fire maps and briefings, with the “Large Fire Map” being especially informative (multiple links to the map can be found on the homepage). Updated daily.
Washington Smoke Information: These three websites show smoke conditions in the valley. PurpleAir has a monitor in Pine Forest.
Windy.com, or its mobile app (Windy.app). Tracking wind direction and intensity tells you what happens next so you can assess how you might be impacted. This site provides the big picture about where wildfire risk is coming from, how and when it might shift, if it is gaining or losing intensity, or whether you're seeing smoke from another fire.