Fire forces evacuation of homes in central Washington

NACHES, Wash. – Residents driven from their homes by wildfires near two central Washington communities awaited word Thursday on when they might return while firefighters worked in hot, dry conditions.

Active wildfires have burned across more than 50,000 acres in Washington. No homes have been lost although there have been some close calls.

Seven homes were evacuated along a mountain road northwest of Yakima after a nearby wildfire grew to about 3,000 acres Thursday, said Dale Warriner, fire information officer. The Mud Lake fire, which started Monday, was burning in grass, sagebrush and timber.

Residents of another 45 homes along the Naches River were told they might have to flee, Warriner said.

The fire was about 30 percent contained.

A state management team began directing the firefighting effort Wednesday evening. About 274 firefighters were assigned to the fire. No structures had burned, but several homes barely escaped damage Wednesday when wind blew the fire to the edge of a highway.

Officials believe a downed power line started the fire.

Temperatures in the region were in the 90s, topping 100 degrees in some places.

Farther north, authorities ordered additional evacuations Thursday near the Fischer fire, located about 20 miles northwest of Wenatchee. About 20 homes in two canyons remained evacuated, and about a dozen residents in a third canyon were ordered to leave as the fire grew.

Residents of more than 40 nearby homes were advised that they too might have to leave, fire information officer Stefani O’Connor said.

The Fischer fire was estimated at about 1,330 acres Thursday night, O’Connor said. It was believed to be human-caused.

More than 715 firefighters were assigned to the fire, which was burning on private, state and national forest land. It was about 25 percent contained.

The Red Cross had set up a shelter at a middle school in Leavenworth, and the federal government on Thursday approved a grant to cover 75 percent of firefighting costs.

Another fire on the Yakama Indian Reservation had burned about 770 acres of grass and sagebrush along U.S. 97, about 15 miles southwest of Toppenish. The fire briefly closed the highway Wednesday night, but the road was open again on Thursday, said Edwin Lewis, a forest manager for the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

No evacuations were necessary. No structures had burned, and no injuries were reported, Lewis said. About 60 firefighters were on hand.

About 425 firefighters continued to monitor a complex of three fires burning near Lake Chelan in north-central Washington. The Pot Peak-Sisi Ridge complex remained at 46,970 acres and was 85 percent contained.

Lightning caused all three fires in the complex — the Pot Peak fire on June 26 and the Deep Harbor and Sisi Ridge fires on July 19. The Deep Harbor fire burned a dock and picnic shelter at a campground.

The cost of fighting the three fires stands at more than $20 million.