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Elk, Washington

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1936 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Colbert census division. It lies in ZIP code area 99009. The Survey maps it on the Elk quadrangle. It stands 1,844 feet above sea level.

Elk within Spokane County

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 13 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

240 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 240 fires within 5 miles of Elk between 1992 and 2020, burning about 432 acres in total. 36 started naturally. 9 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning84
Natural36
Missing data/not specified/undetermined33
Recreation and ceremony27
Misuse of fire by a minor14
Other causes11
Power generation/transmission/distribution9
Arson/incendiarism9
Equipment and vehicle use8
Fireworks5
Smoking4

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
7 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWashington State Department of Natural Resources HeadquartersLAUREL ROAD
7 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWashington State Department of Natural Resources HeadquartersMUEHLE
7 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresWashington State Department of Natural Resources HeadquartersPASTURE
7 September 1997Debris and open burningunder an acreWashington State Department of Natural Resources Headquartersnot named
6 September 2014Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreWashington State Department of Natural Resources HeadquartersHILLTOP
6 September 2009Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreWashington State Department of Natural Resources HeadquartersBUNGE LINE
4 September 2013Naturalunder an acreWashington State Department of Natural Resources HeadquartersMILAN STRIKE
4 September 2013Naturalunder an acreWashington State Department of Natural Resources HeadquartersELK STRIKE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Spokane County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 24 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 24 workings within 5 miles of Elk: 15 past producers, 5 prospects, 3 occurrences, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Uranium, Gold, Tungsten, Silver. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Elk QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
NevellGold, Tungsten, SilverProspect
SunriseGold, SilverProspect
Bear Creek ProspectUraniumOccurrence
Dawn Uranium & OilUraniumProspect
GrahamUraniumProspect
SchaeferUraniumOccurrence
SchaeferUraniumOccurrence
StapletonUraniumProspect
Toner PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Spokane County

Storms near this place

5 since 2008

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Elk in 5 storm reports between 2008 and 2025: 4 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2022Flash FloodElk$10,000Flash flooding on Bruce Road, with portions of the road washed out. time estimated from radar.
September 2024Thunderstorm WindElk$1,000Numerous trees 8 to 12 inches in diameter down on the road. A wind gusts of 41 MPH was reported at the Deer Park Airport.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindElk$1,000An eight inch tree was snapped off and fell into power lines, knocking out the power.
September 2024Thunderstorm WindElk$500Large tree 4 feet in diameter blown down. Deer Park Airport reported a gust of 41 MPH.
March 2025Thunderstorm WindElk-NWS employee observed tree leaning over North Milan Elk Road. Time estimated by radar.

Every storm recorded in Spokane County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Milan4.5 miles14
Grays Landing4.8 miles13
Pocahontas Bay5.2 miles13
Chattaroy9.7 miles14
T Bridge Corner11.1 miles13
Denison11.3 miles13
Deer Park11.4 miles13
Green Bluff13.0 miles15

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on ElkAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q3474447The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1519263. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.