We aren't really in a drought. Eastern Washington only gets about 5-12 inches of precipitation per year. Closer to Spokane, that is almost in Idaho, gets a little more. There are many factors contributing to the increase in fires. Eastern Washington and Eastern Oregon get hot. Daily temperatures after July 4th (We had a pretty cool and wet June, warmer than normal May) consistently over 90 degrees and most days are over 95 degrees. Our humidity on hot days is less than 20%. There is less logging going on. The Northwest use to have large flocks of sheep that grazed on open range in the summer. I am not an expert but I don't think there are as many cattle grazing on open range as there use to be. Add all that to the increase in population that only puts more dumb people out in the woods. When I moved to Seattle in the late seventies the state's population was just under 4 million. Now we have over 7 million people. It was awful three summers ago. Not much smoke, but some the last two summers. I think it is the new normal. AQI is now at 226. That is not good but it is a lot better than what is was.