Raging Washington wildfires grow by 100 square miles

[Lite Beer]

Raging Washington wildfires grow by 100 square miles
NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS, Associated Press
BRIAN SKOLOFF, Associated Press

TWISP, Washington (AP) — Reduced winds on Saturday helped firefighters gain the upper hand against a series of giant wildfires in north-central Washington that earlier left three firefighters dead.

The Okanogan Complex of wildfires was measured at 355 square miles (920 square kilometers) on Saturday, about 100 miles larger than Friday, fire spokesman Rick Isaacson said.

But the flames were moving away from population centers in Okanogan County, which by land area is the largest in Washington state.

Thousands of people in the county remained under evacuation orders after strong winds drove flames across parched ground earlier this week.

Brad Craig of Omak was told to evacuate on Wednesday, but kept coming back to check on his home.

"I was coming over several times a day to check on it," Craig said.

On Saturday, he found flames perhaps 30 yards (27 meters) from his back deck. With the help of firefighters, he beat back the flames and was confident he had saved his house.

"I'm feeling a whole lot better than I was three hours ago," Craig said.

Sheriff Frank Rogers said it was too early to say how many homes had burned in the county of 5,300 square miles (13,700 square kilometers). The official tally of three homes and 33 other structures lost was very preliminary, he said.

"That'll take weeks," Rogers said. "I know we are going to have quite a few."

Resources were so strained that on Saturday fire officials began providing basic fire training to volunteers who have machinery like backhoes and bulldozers so they can help dig fire lines.

Meanwhile, a second of the four firefighters injured in a wildfire on Wednesday has been transferred to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, the Northwest's major burn center. Harborview spokeswoman Susan Gregg said Saturday that the firefighter was transferred Friday night and is listed in satisfactory condition.

She did not release the firefighter's identity or the extent of his injuries but said he was a 47-year-old man from the Okanogan area.

"His thoughts are with the other injured firefighters and those who died," she said.

Three firefighters were killed and four injured when flames overtook them Wednesday while they were battling the Okanogan Complex. Another firefighter remains in critical condition at Harborview with burns over 60 percent of his body.

Officials have said the injured firefighters were trying to escape the flames on foot.

The firefighter who was newly admitted to Harborview is an employee of the state Department of Natural Resources, agency spokesman Bob Redling said. He was initially treated and released from a hospital in Okanogan, and then asked to go to Harborview, Redling said.

Three firefighters — Tom Zbyszewski, Richard Wheeler and Andrew Zajac — died Wednesday when flames consumed their crashed vehicle as they tried to escape the fire.

Winds that blew at 35 mph or more earlier in the week let up on Saturday.

"The winds have died down," said Angela Seydel, spokeswoman for Okanogan County Emergency Management.

Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers said flames on Saturday were moving away from population centers in the county of 41,000 people.

"Things are pretty good," Rogers said.

___

Geranios reported from Spokane, Washington.

-- (c) Associated Press 2015-08-23

[NeverSure]

This is in Central Washington State, the state that's most NW in mainland USA. It's just S. of Canada in the far West. If it is truly that big it is about 850 km².

Seattle is in the Pacific NW and gets a lot of rain but this has the Cascade Mountains between it and the Pacific Ocean and they catch a lot of the rain and it is always arid. It is mostly desert by many standards.

Pictures.

[laurenrebecca]

This is in Central Washington State, the state that's most NW in mainland USA. It's just S. of Canada in the far West. If it is truly that big it is about 850 km².

Seattle is in the Pacific NW and gets a lot of rain but this has the Cascade Mountains between it and the Pacific Ocean and they catch a lot of the rain and it is always arid. It is mostly desert by many standards.

Pictures.

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NeverSure- Okanogan County is incredibly big, with a very small population compared to other counties in the state. As you stated, due to the Cascade mountains, it does not receive very much precipitation at all, and is largely arid. They are in the middle of a drought, and the landscape although arid is also very mountainous and so is very difficult to reach some areas by vehicle.

Many of the firefighters fighting these fires are smokejumpers, and are parachuted in from planes to manually dig fire lines. When the winds are above about 20mph (35kmh), fire lines are nearly impossible to contain, and the insanely low humidity (10-30%) makes it one big tinder box.

One of my very good friends is a 911 operator and dispatcher in Omak there, and she herself has been evacuated from her home as well. The winds are better today, but this is still a very bad situation. The only good thing to come of it is that the wind direction has changed, and not as many homes are in danger now. Yesterday morning, the towns of Conconully, Tonasket and Omak were all in the path of these fires. Now only Conconully is...its population thankfully is only a few hundred.

My friend has said that they are stretched to their limit there, with state and federal firefighters on scene, multiple aircraft and more than 50 firefighting vehicles. Countless farmers in the area are digging fire lines near homes to try and save what they can. Prayers and luck to all of them. These fires are BAD news.

[sgtsabai]

But of course climate change has nothing to do with this and other wildland fires, right?. One thing that is an absolute is the death of 1,000 cuts by the Republicans to the government. Funding for wildland fire suppression and prevention has been cut over and over again and the resources are not available like they were in my day. A good friend at Santa Domingo Pueblo in New Mexico emailed me recently saying that the BIA Indian crews are no longer allowed out of state as a "cost cutting" effort. Indian hotshot crews are an exception and I'm not sure how many there are anymore. State and local crews/depts. are being "consolidated" to save costs. 3 dead so far, how many more must die because of budget cutting? RIP brothers, us old fire dogs honor you.

[Shot]

Stunningly beautiful area around Twisp. I have spent many, many, many, many holidays camping and fishing around there. Most of the folks in that region are farmers, ranchers, and salt of the earth type people. Hope the rain and favorable winds come soon.

[Cats4ever]

Good luck to everyone involved. Massive bushfires are terrifying and take smart & hard work to control.

[LomSak27]

Very small population but these areas have had a substantial increase in housing over the last 10-30 years.

Nice place to buy 10 acres, for retirement and build a house. That is the case all over the west and British Colombia. People building in areas that before no one would. Family friends out of Mazama spent the last week clearing brush, cutting a few ponderosa trees down, and hauling them along with neighbors. Basically all they could do, and then wait to see literally which way the wind will blow.