It was an emergency declaration.
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President Obama declared an emergency exists in Washington due to raging wildfires and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts. Fire officials explained that “mandatory evacuations” are in place for Tonasket, where1,000 people are residing.
Three firefighters – Tom Zbyszewski, Richard Wheeler and Andrew Zajac – died Wednesday when flames consumed their crashed vehicle as they tried to escape this fire.
In Washington’s rural central region, the Okanogan Complex fires had collectively burned 124,083 acres by Friday. It covers 11 counties in central and eastern Washington as well as the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, the Kalispel Tribe of Indians, the Spokane Tribe of Indians, and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakima Nation.
In signing an emergency declaration Friday morning, Obama authorized the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief “to save lives and protect property and public health and safety and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe”.
For the first time in state history, Washington’s department of natural resources (DNR) is accepting volunteers to assist with fighting fires and to donate equipment. Emergency protective measures, limited to direct federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent federal funding.
With roughly 560 firefighters deployed against the fires, crews took advantage of light winds to extend containment lines west of the town center along Lake Chelan in the area of a yacht club and at a nearby ridge, officials said.
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With manpower and other resources stretched thin, fire managers have turned to the U.S. Army, the National Guard and even personnel from Canada, Australia and New Zealand to furnish reinforcements.
