[1]Skies over south Chehalis at mid-afternoon today.
Updated at 5:11 p.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Lewis County’s Department of Emergency Management wants the public to know the smoke being seen around the area today is traveling from the large wildfires on the eastern side of the mountains.
“There are no fires at this time in Lewis County,” DEM Manager Steve Mansfield said.
Lewis County 911 and the fire departments are getting lots of calls from people asking what’s burning, Mansfield said.
The state Department of Natural Resources and weather people are confirming it’s coming from the east, Mansfield said. And perhaps a little bit from the Alder Lake fire, he said.
South Lewis County is experiencing it to the degree that in places you can’t see the blue sky and smoke is sitting in low valleys, Mansfield said.
However, if anyone sees flames, or sees a column of smoke, they do need to call 911, Mansfield said.
Mansfield said he talked with Lewis County Fire District 8 Chief Duran McDaniel today and was told the Gore Road fire in Onalaska is maybe putting off little wisps of smoke.
And people are keeping an eye on the other places where there have been large fires locally, such as Gish Road and Centralia-Alpha Road, he said.
The Tenino Fire Department says their phone has been ringing off the hook this afternoon with callers wanting to know what is burning as well. They’ve verified with their central dispatch in Olympia the haze is coming from the east.