Washington Farm Wildfire Losses and Montana's Deer Creek Fire — September 6, 2026

Today's stories are less about active flames and more about what fire leaves behind: farm losses that take years to work through, an investigation into how a fire started, and an indoor air-quality problem at a school.

Washington farmers describe the cost of wildfire

Eastern Washington agricultural leaders told Farm Service Agency Administrator Bill Beam during a visit to the Spokane area that wildfires are one of several financial pressures squeezing the state's growers. Beam heads the U.S. Department of Agriculture agency responsible for loans and disaster assistance.

Medical Lake Reimagined co-founder Gerri Johnson said agriculture has been an afterthought in fire recovery, even though farming and raising livestock was the livelihood of some affected residents. Three years after the Medical Lake fire, she said, people are still trying to figure out how to put up fences. Some consequences are immediate — wheat turned to ash, lost equipment, increased grazing from displaced wildlife — and others take longer to appear, as the Spokesman-Review reports.

Montana's Deer Creek Fire ruled human-caused

Investigators have determined that the Deer Creek Fire, which started near Happy's Inn in northwest Montana toward the end of August, was human-caused. The finding was among the week's headlines rounded up by the Daily Inter Lake.

Separately, a man suspected of setting fires at two Kalispell public schools has pleaded not guilty to a pair of felony arson charges.

A Pennsylvania school district cleans up after air testing

Plum Middle School near Pittsburgh is running mold remediation over the weekend after air-quality testing followed elevated humidity in the building, district officials told parents in a letter.

The testing found that total indoor concentrations of airborne mold were significantly lower than outdoor concentrations, which is normal, but three sampled locations showed a slightly higher indoor concentration of one type of mold. The district said it is going beyond the recommended response as a precaution, and that officials were advised the building is safe for students and staff. More testing will follow the cleanup, according to TribLive. Several other Western Pennsylvania districts have run into mold issues recently, with Ligonier Valley canceling class and Monessen City delaying its start date.

Indoor humidity is one of the few air-quality factors most people can actually adjust at home.

An abandoned Los Angeles house neighbors call a fire risk

Neighbors near an unfinished house on Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles say the vacant property has become a nighttime gathering spot, covered in graffiti with several windows missing, and they have raised concerns that it is a wildfire hazard. Property records list Walking Media Inc. as the owner, and a building permit was issued in May, the New York Post reports.

Sources

• Washington farmers tell top Trump official wildfires only part of 'firestorm of things' affecting bottom lines — Spokane Spokesman-Review
• Headlines: Bear attack closes Columbia Falls trail, wildfire determined human-caused, Kalispell debates license plate readers — Kalispell Inter Lake
• Plum Middle School conducts mold remediation — Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
• Abandoned Mulholland Drive mansion becomes party pad, eyesore and wildfire threat — New York Post

Canairy aggregates publicly reported air-quality and wildfire news and summarizes it in plain English, with links to the original sources. This is educational information, not medical or emergency advice. In a wildfire or air-quality emergency, follow guidance from local authorities.