Why was Pierce County so smoky?
Pierce County was smoky Sunday, and firefighters wanted to know why.
Crews investigating smoke near Arletta, FI, Artondale. Possible smoke from fires yesterday south of our District drifting north.
— GigHarborFire (@GigHarborFire) July 19, 2015
We are getting questions about smoke in the area. Nothing found so far, but multiple agencies are checking it out. https://t.co/RoNTY75wV9
— West Pierce Fire (@WestPierce) July 19, 2015
They took their search to the air, but still didn’t find answers.
At 11:10am Pierce 1 (PCSO Air unit) flew Western UP, GH, FI, KP area. Nothing found. GH units in-service.
— GigHarborFire (@GigHarborFire) July 19, 2015
Update on multiple smoke investigation reports: crews on the ground and views from the sky report nothing found.
— Key Peninsula Fire (@kpfd16) July 19, 2015
In the end, they decided it probably had something to do with this:
@BillsTowingYelm There is a slow burning range fire - lots of smoke. Cooler night air may drag it back down to ground level overnight.
— JB Lewis-McChord (@JBLM_PAO) July 19, 2015
Joint Base Lewis-McChord posted on Facebook Saturday that a ground-level fire started burning in the artillery impact area a few weeks ago, and has kept going. It’s a fully contained and slow-moving fire, and also a very smoky one.
“According to the base forestry office expect smoke, plus low-lying smoke in the evening due to the temperature inversion for the next several days,” the post to the base community read. “We ask people to refrain from calling the JBLM 911 Center to report the training area smoke (they are well aware of it).”
This story was originally published July 19, 2015 at 8:18 PM with the headline "Why was Pierce County so smoky?."