The Tripod Complex Fire was a

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identi ...

which burned in north-central

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

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 naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of an average ...

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 beetle The mountain pine beetle (''Dendroctonus ponderosae'') is a species of bark beetle native to the forests of western North America from Mexico to central British Columbia. It has a hard black exoskeleton, and measures approximately , about the si ...

s 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 acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are somet ...

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

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as 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 ...

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

heat wave A heat wave, or heatwave, is a period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity, especially in oceanic climate countries. While definitions vary, a heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the ...

. 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 Okanogan (US) or Okanagan (Canada) may refer to: People and regions *Okanagan Country, a divided region in British Columbia and Washington *Okanagan people, a Native American (USA) or First Nations (Canada) people, known as the ''Syilx'' in their ...

, 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 Smokejumpers are specially trained wildland firefighters who provide an initial attack response on remote wildland fires. They are inserted at the site of the fire by parachute. In addition to performing the initial attack on wildfires, they ...

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 349 at the 2000 census, and it increased to 394 at the 2010 census. History Winthrop was incorporated on March 12, 1 ...

— 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 land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

soldiers were 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 politician who served as the 22nd governor of Washington from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she defeated Republican candidate Dino Rossi in 2004, and aga ...

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 comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet ...

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)