So big you could see it from space

Over the last decade, the area has suffered through several fire seasons that brought not only fire, but lots of smoke, often from elsewhere.

This month, we got both, in huge amounts.

The fires that burned all around us consumed more than 500,000 acres in our local counties alone, but the smoke that sat on the state (and hard on the coulee) gathered off the coast for many days before making its way inland.

At sea, the massive body of smoke spanned an area larger than 900,000 square miles as measured from satellite images.

We’ve had so much news over the last week that we could not fit a photo or story into our print edition here, but one already exists, complete with those composited images from space, in The Star online. Subscribers have full access, and most of our public emergency stories are open to all at grandcoulee.com.

We’ll do our best to keep you up to date during such emergencies. But with limited staff and time, some coverage is bound to slip on stories that must be covered by checking with many different official sources. We happily take tips and suggestions.

Thanks for reading us.

Scott Hunter

editor and publisher