The fire had burned more than 22,000 acres as of Sunday evening, and fire crews had the fire 15 percent contained.
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The Grizzly Bear Complex is burning on the Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness about 20 miles southeast of Dayton.
This map shows current wildfires burning in Oregon and Washington.
Fire information officer Brian Lawatch says the first few days of the firefight were a defensive operation. 13, 2015, while firefighters battle a fire complex.
Lightning storms across northwest Colorado are being blamed for several wildfires, including one north of Craig that was estimated at 450 acres.
Dozens of people in neighborhoods outlying the tiny logging town were told last week to flee in the face of the blazes, among more than 100 burning across the northern, southwestern and east-central parts of the state and in neighboring Oregon and Washington, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise.
“There were buildings destroyed in town”, said Lawatch.
Level 2 evacuations are still in effect and residents are urged to stay away from the area. It’s threatening 12 homes. Crews have been able to hold the fire to 13,800 acres.
By early Monday, it had burned about 23,000 acres and was 65% contained.
Conner Chess, another career firefighter in Duvall, just spent 10 days both on the west and east side of the mountains. The fire has resulted in the closure of roads and trails, and the Colville National Forest is closed from the Canadian border to Deadman Creek.
In Oregon alone, fires had burned hundreds of thousands of acres and prompted evacuation notices in nearby communities in the eastern portion of the state. It’s 1 percent contained. But when she looked at the hillside surrounding her backyard, all she could see was fire.
Paul Smythe of Chelan lost nearly everything when the fire destroyed his home in Chelan.
Officials revised the size of the fire downward after previous estimates put it at almost 4 square miles.
“We’re at the point in the summer … where everything is going”, said Mike Cole, spokesman for team managing the Lawyer fire and four other blazes. The NIFC said weather conditions conducive to fire were expected to continue for several weeks.
Fire officials are hoping calmer weather Sunday will aid fire crews using air tankers, helicopters and bulldozers to attack several large fires burning in the Chelan area in central Washington that have destroyed more than 50 structures.
In California, roughly 14,000 firefighters were struggling with 19 fires across the state, reported CalFire in a Sunday update.
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In southern California, a wildfire ruined two and a half square miles (6.5 sq km) of forest near Los Angeles. The Bureau of Land Management reported no injuries and noted that one home was evacuated. Containment of the 85-square mile blaze increased to 25 per cent.
