Smoke, sprinklers, aluminum foil: Fighting fire on the Olympic Peninsula John Ryan August 14, 2025 / 9:52 am

Extreme heat launched the Bear Gulch Fire across 2,000 additional acres of forest on Tuesday and Wednesday, pouring thick smoke on the Hood Canal communities of Hoodsport and Skokomish, Washington.

Above the smoke, a miles-high pyrocumulus cloud formed, visible from Ocean Shores to Whatcom County.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the Bear Gulch Fire had burned about 8,300 acres of Olympic National Forest and Olympic National Park above the Lake Cushman reservoir since starting July 6. Some 700 firefighters and support crew are working to put it out.

On Tuesday morning, the air quality index at Hoodsport neared 600, deep into the “hazardous” zone, while on the Skokomish Reservat

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