Fire burns dozens of buildings
POMEROY, Wash. – Nearly three dozen buildings have been charred by a volatile wildfire that fed on shifting winds and dry fuel Sunday, growing to 32,000 acres and forcing the evacuation of about 175 homes.
Farmers beyond the flames were plowing up broad swaths of earth through fields of wheat and other crops, trying to create fire breaks and save this year’s harvest, said spokesman Marc Hollen at the Northwest Fire Coordination Center in Portland.
The so-called School fire covered about 150 acres Saturday morning, but flames were moving fast through tinder-dry country. Smoke was making it hard for fire managers to see the fire’s perimeter.
The smoke also grounded water tankers and helicopters for much of the day and made it difficult to find burned structures. Officials counted 35 torched buildings by Sunday evening but acknowledged that more may have been consumed.
“Right now there is so much smoke that it’s difficult to see very well, so unless a person knew the ground … it might be easy to miss,” fire center spokesman John Townsley said.
There were no reports of injuries. It could not be immediately determined whether the structures that burned were homes, sheds or other buildings, Townsley said.
Towers of smoke indicated the fire was generating its own weather, sending heavy drafts skyward that could also shoot burning debris ahead of the front and push the blaze rapidly ahead, Townsley said.
“It starts a sort of perpetual motion machine that just keeps the fire moving and going,” he said.
“The bigger the column, the more extreme the winds” inside the blaze, he said, noting the smoke was visible in satellite photos of the area.
Some 600 people were working the fire, along with about 75 engines.
Gov. Christine Gregoire accompanied State Patrol Chief John Batiste on a flight to the area Sunday evening to assess the fire, spokeswoman Althea Cawley-Murphree said.
Officials are not sure how the blaze began Friday, but managers were sure it was not sparked by a lightning strike, Townsley said.
“We could easily see more of this if people aren’t careful,” Townsley said.
Aid also has been requested from the Federal Emergency Management Agency “because of the threat to residences and homes,” he said. The affected homes are apparently scattered, likely in drainages, he added. He said primary and recreational homes probably were affected.
While other fires were burning around the state, “I think the School fire is the dragon on the block right now,” Townsley said
The fire is feeding on a variety of fuel types, Townsley said: forest, brush, grass and some crop lands. Much of the fire was in the Umatilla National Forest, but wind appeared to push the fire to the north and east Sunday.
The fire burned into the Tuncannon River Canyon and jumped the waterway as it roared north and east. Three campgrounds – Boundary, Tuncannon and Alder Thicket – were evacuated.
Another new blaze, the Burnt Bread fire, had destroyed one barn and covered about 1,300 acres in sparsely populated north-central Washington, about 30 miles south of the U.S.-Canadian border, Townsley said.
About 40 firefighters were assigned to that blaze, working with two helicopters and 10 engines. Crews built a bulldozer line and appeared to make good progress, but the fire could get more dangerous if wind pushes it into forest land, Townsley said.
Updates on the state’s other major fires:
“The Dirtyface fire near Lake Wenatchee, about 18 miles northwest of Leavenworth, was reported 60 percent contained at 1,100 acres. About 100 homes had been evacuated and other area residents were advised to be prepared for evacuation as hot, dry weather continued. There were more than 650 firefighters at the scene, working with trucks and helicopters to douse the fire and strengthening fire lines near the Whispering Pines subdivision. Fire crews hoped to have full containment by Wednesday.
“The Lick Creek fire near Cle Elum had charred about 670 acres and was considered 20 percent contained. Residents of 30 homes on the north fork of the Teanaway Creek were evacuated. About 490 firefighters were on it, and found that relatively wet grasslands were helping containment efforts, Townsley said.
“In the North Cascades National Park, the Shady fire remained at a little more than 100 acres and firefighters were wrapping up their work. More than 85 firefighters and three helicopters were assigned to the fire about 12 miles northwest of Stehekin. The fire was believed to have been caused by a person. No injuries were reported.
Montana
Ten houses in a drainage south of Alberton remained under evacuation orders Sunday, as more crews arrived to help protect those and other structures threatened by a growing complex of fires started along Interstate 90.
More than 500 firefighters struggled against hot, dry weather and high winds Sunday to keep the human-caused fires at bay. One of the blazes had crept closer to the homes overnight, but none had been lost, fire spokeswoman Elsha Kirby said.
Several commercial structures and power lines also were threatened.
“The crews are doing structure protection,” Kirby said. “They’ve been doing it all night, all through the night, and they are continuing to do so today.”
The fires, sparked Thursday along Interstate 90 in Western Montana, had burned about 4,000 acres as of Sunday evening, the equivalent of 6 square miles, and were 10 percent contained. Authorities did not know how many people were evacuated but said several residents had chosen to stay with their homes.
A 90-mile stretch of I-90 had been closed by the fires Friday. Although all but one lane was reopened by Sunday, authorities were considering closing the highway again because of accidents, Kirby said.
At least one firefighter had witnessed a rollover crash in the area, she said. Drivers had been told to expect reduced speeds, smoke, firefighting equipment and even wildlife along the roadway, but many still aren’t paying attention, Kirby said.
“We’re worried not just about firefighter safety, but about the public driving along and rubbernecking,” she said.
Authorities were considering another highway closure, or further reducing speeds.
Investigators, meanwhile, were still trying to determine the cause of the fires. Half a dozen or so law enforcement officers had combed the edges of I-90, looking for clues, and had asked the public for help.
Elsewhere, the lightning-caused Prospect fire had quickly burned 350 acres in the Lolo National Forest near St. Regis and was spotting a mile ahead of the main blaze.
In the Bitterroot National Forest to the south, the Rock Creek fire complex grew on Sunday to about 2,500 acres.
Control efforts included helicopter water drops, although a Type II management team was expected to take over on Monday, forest spokeswoman Christine Romero said.
The Kelly Point fire, discovered Saturday near Black Bear Cabin in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, was believed to be human caused and had grown to an estimated 500 acres, Flathead National Forest spokeswoman Denise Germann said.
The blaze jumped the South Fork Flathead River and was spreading east up Hodag Creek drainage. Crews were working to protect the Black Bear Cabin, a Forest Service facility used as a summer work center.
The lightning-caused Limestone Peak fire ballooned to about 100 acres Sunday from just 10 acres the day before. It was burning in a remote area of the wilderness area, Germann said.