Columbia Complex fire evacuations ordered

Tourists hoping to get photographs of a DC-10 airplane on fire duty and area cabin owners were evacuated Saturday from the perimeter of the Columbia Complex of fires in southeast Washington.

People had gathered outside the fire line, “wanting to get pictures of that plane,” fire spokesman Virgil Mink said. The scattered evacuations came late in the second day the DC-10 was on active fire duty, able to carry as much as 12,000 gallons of fire retardant on one run – eight times as much as anything else.

The area of concern was between local Pioneer Memorial Park and the Umatilla National Forest on the Washington-Oregon border, so far beyond reach of the flames.

“There are a lot of tourists out there,” Mink said. “People like to see what we do.”

By nightfall, the fire had charred 70,000 acres, or nearly 110 square miles, fire spokesman Charlie Armiger said.

The fire was about 10 percent contained, Mink said – mostly in the southeast corner “where the Coppei fire used to be” before four fires, all started by lightning strikes Monday, merged into the Columbia Complex.

There were 735 firefighters on the scene Saturday, with more en route. There were 55 fire engines, 16 five-engine strike teams, 15 dozers, three helicopters and 23 water tenders on the fire.

The weather has been cooperating with fire crews around the state, with cooler temperatures, increased humidity and calm. Hotter, drier and windier weather was expected Sunday and Monday – with highs in the 90s – followed by a cold front late Monday. “That’s the good news,” said meteorologist Jonathan Fox with the National Weather Service in Spokane.

There could be some “hit-or-miss showers” through the week, he said, but “not enough rain to put out the fires.”

In north-central Washington, the Tripod Complex of fires had burned through 135,694 acres, or about 212 square miles, spokesman Greg Thayer said. That blaze was 48 percent contained – up from 45 percent Friday.

There were 2,310 firefighters and support personnel on site, working with 12 helicopters, 78 engines, 26 dozers and 74 300-gallon water-tender trucks, he said.

“We have just four miles of fire line yet to be built, so we’re coming against that just fine.” Thayer said.