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Governor to visit John Day for wildfire briefing

In Montana, the biggest fire burned 21 square miles (54 sq km), with flames blaming in Glacier National Park and on the Flathead Indian Reservation.

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The fires are listed at zero percent contained.

All evacuations in place since Friday remained Saturday, Dies said.

The Chelan Hospital began evacuating patients due to smoke around 2 p.m. but decided to keep its emergency room open.

Terri Raffetto was at a community center that had been converted into a shelter in Entiat, about 20 miles south of Chelan.

Grant County Commissioner Boyd Britton said Monday that it is a poor county, but the people are generous.

Lisa Stroup, executive director for the Red Cross in central and eastern Oregon, said Tuesday families need the tools to sift through what was left by the wind-driven fire. Wildfires have burned around 7 million acres, according to NASA, which is 2 million more than the 10-year average at this point in the season. Patterson said several businesses have been lost.

Farther north, hundreds of firefighters were battling half a dozen blazes around the popular Washington resort town of Chelan, between Spokane and Seattle, NBC station KHQ of Spokane reported.

The help can be crucial in particularly active years such as this one, when the center’s firefighting teams and equipment are fighting hundreds of fires across many states. Firefighters will be using direct and indirect tactics to limit fire growth and will be assessing needs for point protection, road and trail closures, and evacuations.

The Northwest Colorado Fire Management Unit says over 4,000 lightning strikes hit northwestern Colorado on Saturday and Sunday. It’s located about 10 miles east of Curlew Lake.

Considered to be the safest and quickest way for crews to complete the last section of the line on the fire, the burnout plan has been developed over the past few days.

So many wildfires have ignited across the Northern Rockies this month that fire officials are allowing some that might have been snuffed out under normal circumstances to burn.

“We had nine chickens, and I had to just kick open the chicken coop door and let them fend for themselves”, he said. And the Stouts Creek fire east of Canyonville has burned 25,000 acres and is 75 percent contained. Some fires have been sparked by passing vehicles.

The cause of the fire is unknown.

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At least 80 homes and 100 other structures have been leveled by wildfires in Oregon and Washington this summer.

View of part the Oliver fire late Friday night from the Black Hills winery area