Fire In Okanogan County Brought Under Control

Thu., Aug. 15, 1996

From Staff And Wire Reports

A 30-acre fire in Okanogan County threatened homes in the Mosquito Creek area before firefighters slowed it down Wednesday.

The wind-driven fire started on private land about 10 miles northeast of Tonasket, said Bill Berrigan, spokesman for the state Department of Natural Resources.

The cause of the fire, reported shortly before 3 p.m., hasn’t been determined.

Twenty-five firefighters from DNR, the U.S. Forest Service and Tonasket Rural Fire District battled the blaze with nine engines, one bulldozer and two air tankers borrowed from British Columbia.

There was talk of evacuating nearby homes, Berrigan said, but firefighters tamed the blaze by early evening and decided evacuations were unnecessary.

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