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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

High winds fan flames, cause power outages

A large ponderosa pine tree snapped in the wind, took out telephone and cable lines, blocked 14th Avenue at Stevens Street and damaged a fence Saturday in Spokane. (Colin Mulvany)

A severe windstorm pushed the massive blazes burning in the Northwest on Saturday, as thick smoke again blanketed the region.

Downed power lines were reported throughout the Inland Northwest, but most electricity in the Spokane region was restored by late Saturday.

The system that monitors air quality around the state quit reporting data Saturday after the Department of Ecology site failed, said Lisa Woodard, spokeswoman for the Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency.

Spokane was blanketed by a smoky, dusty shroud Saturday and by late morning the air was considered unhealthy for people with health concerns with an air quality index rating of 143 before reporting stopped. The air cleared briefly in the early afternoon before the smoke and dust returned.

Some areas saw rain Saturday, but the showers were scattered and brief. There’s a better chance of rain today in Spokane and areas to the north, said Spokane National Weather Service forecaster Matt Fugacci. The rain could be a little as a tenth of an inch, however.

“Any little bit helps at this point,” Fugacci said.

The smoke is likely to linger but should not be as bad as it was Saturday, he said.

“It’s exceedingly difficult to predict which days are going to be worse than other days,” he said.

Saturday’s winds were about 30 miles per hour in the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene area, with peak gusts of 48 miles per hour recorded at Spokane Airport and 47 miles per hour at the Coeur d’Alene airport.

The weather this week is expected to be cooler with occasional rain showers, particularly in the mountains, Fugacci said. That will help firefighters, but some wind is also expected off and on.

“It’s kind of a good news, bad news situation,” Fugacci said.

Avista reported that nearly 1,700 remained without power on the West Plains. More than 3,000 customers still were without power in Lewiston. Inland Power and Light reported an outage late Saturday affected about 100 customers in Oldtown, Idaho.

Stevens County

The Carpenter Road fire in southwestern Stevens County was pushed north and east by high winds Saturday, briefly trapping three firefighters on the northern edge of the fire as the fire swept around them.

Someone was able to go in and lead the firefighters to safety, said fire information officer Sue Valente.

“It was not a place they would have preferred to have been, but they made it out safely,” she said.

Numerous spot fires and thick smoke made it difficult to judge the size of the fire, which was estimated at nearly 94 square miles Saturday morning, Valente said.

“It did grow up toward Huckleberry Mountain to the north and also directly to the east,” she said.

The fire is moving in the direction of Miller Meadow, where firefighters are working to build a fire line around homes.

Lessig Road remains under a Level 3 evacuation notice, which means residents have been asked to leave. Springdale-Hunters Road is still closed between Lessig Road and Rose Hill Road.

Okanogan County

Fire containment lines on the sprawling Okanogan Complex fires still were holding strong late Saturday afternoon.

Measurable rain fell over some of the fires that have blackened significant portions of Okanogan County and the Colville Indian Reservation and continue to threaten several communities.

“Everyone has their heads on a swivel today,” said Lisa Machnik, spokeswoman for the Okanogan Complex fires.

She said all the fire crews were pulled off miles of fire line between the Tunk Block and North Star fires because of the expected high winds and dangerous fire conditions.

That left some 200 homes, including those in the Aeneas Valley, without fire protection if the flames advance.

Fire officials urged residents living in between the two fires, which are expected to burn together, to leave.

“The situation is severe enough that we are making sure our people are out of harm’s way,” Machnik said. “We want everyone to come through this. We understand that it’s very difficult to lose your home and all your belongings. But we are valuing human lives above that.”

Nearly all of the fires in north-central Washington burned actively on Saturday.

The Okanogan Complex fires were putting up a lot of smoke but had not escaped containment lines as of 5 p.m. Saturday.

Sheriff Frank Rogers said blowing dust and smoke “is just like a wall going over the tribal lands and heading north right now. It’s pretty ugly.”

Pend Oreille County

Officials overseeing the Tower fire in Pend Oreille County escalated evacuations Saturday afternoon as high winds made tracking the 29-square-mile fire difficult.

Firefighters were pulled from the fire as the windstorm began because of the fear of falling trees, said Pete Buist, spokesman for the crews fighting the fire. Crews returned to the line later in the afternoon, but thick smoke and dust obscured how far the fire had spread to the east.

Officials had advised residents in the Big Meadow-Squaw Valley area in North Idaho near Priest Lake to leave, but that notice was downgraded Saturday evening.

Crews fighting the fire are stationed the Kalispel Indian Reservation, which is only a few miles from the fire.

Columbia County

A new fire started about 25 miles east of Dayton in Columbia County on Saturday and quickly grew to more than 400 acres.

The Tucannon fire started shortly after 9:30 a.m. Saturday and was threatening homes and crops. State mobilization of resources was authorized.

Athol

A tree on a power line is suspected of sparking an estimated 60-acre blaze near Athol on Saturday afternoon. The fire burned in fields and trees east of Ramsey Road, south of Brunner Road and west of Diagonal Road.

Resident James Atkins said he saw a tree burning near power lines that cut through his land about when the fire started at 12:30 p.m. The flames were as close as 200 yards from his house.

“I’m always scared of fire, especially out here,” Atkins said. “We have no water systems.”

This year has been particularly bad. “Even in a good year this place gets dry,” he said.

Frank Boisseranc owns 80 acres in the area and watched hay bales burn up in his field as portions of his land burned. He said a fire engine had hosed down his house as a precaution and others were as well. Fire engines also were stationed at other nearby homes to protect them for a time.

By 6 p.m. crews had the fire contained and were putting out hot spots, said Kootenai Fire and Rescue spokesman Jim Lyon. “It’s basically dying down,” he said.

The agencies that responded to the fire include Timberlake Fire, Northern Lakes Fire, Spirit Lake Fire, Coeur d’Alene Fire, Kootenai Fire and Rescue, Hauser Lake Fire, Sagle Fire, the Idaho Department of Lands and the U.S. Forest Service.

Salmon River

Officials were able to evacuate 70 Salmon River rafters Friday, but boulders and other falling debris blocked the road out Saturday, trapping the remaining rafters.

On Wednesday, officials took the rare step of closing an 18-mile stretch of the Lower Salmon River from French Creek to Riggins, Idaho, because of the approaching Tepee Springs fire. Rafters were pulled off the river and shuttled to McCall, Idaho. Since then the Salmon River Road has been closed and residents evacuated.

The fire jumped the Salmon River on Saturday. It is burning 2 miles east of Riggins.

A group of rafters was escorted out to Riggins via the Salmon River Road on Friday, but the road has since been blocked by debris, according to the Bureau of Land Management. Efforts to evacuate the rafters to Riggins will resume once the road is cleared.

French Creek Road, which was originally used to evacuate rafters to McCall, is now threatened by fire. The Tepee Springs fire has burned more than 48,000 acres and was moving north and to the east.

No new rafters are being allowed to launch upstream and rafters already on the river above the closed area are being asked to stay where they are.

A fire information meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. today at the Salmon River High School in Riggins.

This story was reported by staff writers Nina Culver, Scott Maben and Mike Prager. The Wenatchee World contributed to this report.