Smoke streams across eastern Washington, visible in this image captured by the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) on NASA's Terra on August 2, 2026. NASA Earth Observatory/Lauren DauphinThe start of August 2026 saw ongoing and new wildland fires burning in eastern Washington. West of Chelan, the Little Giant fire continued to produce heavy smoke, while a cluster of smaller fires farther east near Spokane affected tens of thousands of people. By the morning of August 3, that number had grown to more than 8,000 acres, according to InciWeb. Widespread smoke from these and the other fires in the state combined to produce very unhealthy air quality in parts of the two counties.