The Tripod Complex Fire was a

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...

which burned in north-central

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

state in 2006. The complex consisted of two wildfire complexes which later merged into a single fire: the Spur Peak Fire and the Tripod Fire. Both were caused by

lightning Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on ...

strikes. The Tripod Complex burned a total area of , making it one of the largest wildfires in Washington history at the time.

Events

Prolonged hot and dry weather, combined with an outbreak of mountain pine beetles and a large number of

thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustics, acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorm ...

s made the 2006 wildfire season the most severe in Washington state history. The 2006

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

wildfire season began in late June, when an extended thunderstorm followed a three-day

heat wave A heat wave or heatwave, sometimes described as extreme heat, is a period of abnormally hot weather generally considered to be at least ''five consecutive days''. A heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the area and ...

. Between June 27 and July 10, lightning strikes occurred almost daily. Lightning ignited several wildfires during this period—including the Spur Peak Fire, which was first reported on July 3. Located in the Okanogan National Forest, the fire was deemed fully contained by July 14. A second thunderstorm in late July set off another round of wildfire activity in the region. On July 24, a new fire burning just south of the Spur Peak Fire was reported: the Tripod Fire.

Smokejumper A smokejumper is a specially-trained wildland firefighter who provides an initial attack response on remote wildfires. They are inserted at the site of the fire by parachute. This allows firefighters to access remote fires in their early stag ...

s from the North Cascades Smokejumpers base in nearby

Winthrop, Washington Winthrop is a town in Okanogan County, Washington, United States. It is east of Mazama and north of Twisp. The population was 394 at the 2010 census, and increased to 504 at the 2020 census. Winthrop adopted an Old West theme for its downto ...

— from the point of ignition—were quickly dispatched to the fire. Despite early containment efforts, low humidity and gusty winds allowed the Tripod Fire to grow rapidly. The extreme fire weather also re-intensified the previously contained Spur Peak Fire, which crossed control lines on July 27. The two fires converged in late August. In mid-August, a battalion of 550

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

soldiers was deployed to fight the Tripod Complex Fire. It was the first time a military battalion had been used to fight a wildfire in the US since 2003. By August 23, the Tripod Complex had grown to and around 3,000 firefighters were assigned to the fires. Washington governor

Christine Gregoire Christine Gregoire (; née O'Grady; born March 24, 1947) is an American attorney and politician who served as the List of governors of Washington, 22nd governor of Washington, from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), D ...

surveyed the complex by helicopter and later declared a statewide wildfire emergency, stating "Numerous wildfires across Washington pose a serious threat to homes, infrastructure, businesses and natural resources". The Tripod Complex was extinguished in October, when

snow Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

fall ended the wildfire season. The complex had burned a total of .

References

{{Washington wildfires 2006 in Washington (state) 2006 wildfires in the United States Okanogan County, Washington Okanogan National Forest Wildfires in Washington (state)