Fire Updates & Steelhead Die Off

Fire Updates & Steelhead Die Off

Fire Updates & Steelhead Die Off. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.

Updates on the many fires burning around the northwest have been coming almost as fast as wildfires are spreading. The Okanagan Complex fire has now topped last years Carelton Complex fire as the largest in Washington State history and continues to grow. The complex is made up of five other fires, the 9 Mile, Beaver Lake, Twisp River, Lime Belt and Tunk Block fires. More National Guard firefighters have been brought on board as well as firefighters from New Zealand and Australia. Officials urge people in the area to keep up to date including signing up for Twitter updates. USDA Under Secretary Robert Bonnie updates the Western wildfire season to date, and US Forest Service efforts, resources, and partnerships to battle wildfire activity.

BONNIE: We've got more firefighters out right now than I think we've ever had. We have 27-thousand firefighters, we've got 150 helicopters, we've got 30 large air tankers so we've deployed all of our resources and our resources are tight as a result.

More than 150,000 summer steelhead fingerlings have died at the Umpqua River hatchery 23 miles east of Roseburg, OR. Unusually warm water temperatures is listed as the cause as water in the North Umpqua has reached 71.4 degrees this summer when it's normally in the mid-60's. The warm water is dangerous for fish on it's own but it can also advance the growth of dangerous bacteria and parasites.

That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network of the West.

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