Fires around Chelan and McNeil Canyon, a resort area in central Washington state, have burned 38,793 acres and were 30% contained, according to InciWeb. That’s according to a press release from the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.
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For the first time since 2006, officials announced Tuesday that the Department of Defense would provide soldiers to help overextended fire crews battle wildfires that have collectively scorched 1.1 million acres in several states across the West.
A wildfire burning for weeks on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada grew substantially Wednesday and led to the evacuation of more than 2,500 campers, hikers, employees and residents in central California.
“Nationally, the system is pretty tapped”, said Rob Allen, the deputy incident commander for the fires around Chelan.
“There were literally people on the beaches near that lake in their swim wear out on the lake right near it”, Patterson said.
Big wildfires burning near the central Washington resort town of Chelan (SHA’-lahn) are taking a toll on the region’s main economic engines – tourism and the apple industry.
One area fire chief with a rural fire department put out a call for help to fight the Carpenter Road fire and “got nothing”, said Stevens County District 1 Fire Chief Mike Bucy, who oversees a nearby district adjacent to Spokane.
Over the same period past year, there were 3,047 fires that burned 87,988 acres.
It was the first time in almost a decade that active-duty soldiers have been deployed to fight wildfires in Washington state. The fire has destroyed 49 structures, including homes and businesses, in Chelan and neighboring Douglas County, said Janet Pearce, spokeswoman for the Chelan Complex fire.
Firefighters said the fire was 5 percent contained and more than 600 firefighters were on scene.
“We’ve been expecting another devastating wildfire season, and have had our personnel and equipment ready so we can get them out the door the moment we’re asked for help”, said Maj. Cheryl Lee Wissler of Adams Grade died Friday from a head injury she suffered when she fell, authorities said.
On the Idaho-Oregon border, officials say favorable weather allowed firefighters to increase containment to 90 percent on a fire that has burned 443 square miles of rangeland. Fire officials say that over the weekend smoke from fires in Northern California drifted into the San Francisco Bay Area and east of the city, where it was trapped in valleys for several days, causing hazy skies and breathing difficulties for some.
The fire is the second of two blazes near dry Lower Lake.
By Monday, it had burned about 23,000 acres and was 65% contained.
“The challenge is we have so many fires where public safety is an issue”.
More than 4,000 lightning strikes hit northwestern Colorado on Saturday and Sunday.
Property losses were concentrated in Idaho, Oregon and Washington states, with 108 homes confirmed as destroyed since last Friday, the authorities said.
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The fires also threaten apple orchards and packing warehouses in the heart of the state’s apple belt during what has been a summer of drought in the Northwest. Canadian crews, smokejumpers, and air tankers have already been assigned to northern Idaho and Montana.
