Out-of-control wildfires in north-central Washington have destroyed buildings, but the situation is so chaotic that authorities have “no idea” how many homes may have been lost.
Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers said Friday that “we have lost them, but I don’t know how many.”
The complex of fires that killed three firefighters earlier this week has blown up, growing more than 100 square miles in a day to 252 square miles.
A National Weather Service warning of extreme fire danger was set to expire at 5 p.m. Friday, which may bring some relief to firefighters.
Despite the growth, mandatory evacuations for the small towns of Twisp and Tonasket have been reduced. Residents of those towns can return to their homes but were warned to be ready to evacuate at a moment’s notice.
Emergency officials before dawn Friday called for the immediate evacuation of areas near the community of Okanogan. The Okanogan County Emergency Management department sent out the orders around 2 a.m. PDT.
The department told The Associated Press that the orders were for parts of the northwest outskirts of town. The area was described as populated, but it wasn’t immediately clear how many people were affected.
The agency was urging area residents to stay alert for messages about the fire.
Gov. Jay Inslee says more than 450 square miles were burning in the state this year, an increase from about 390 square miles last year.
A multitude of large wildfires burning across arid Washington have so overtaxed firefighters that officials took the unprecedented step of calling for volunteers to help fight the flames.
The state Department of Natural Resources said late Thursday that it would review civilians’ offers to help and send them where they would be most useful. Volunteers could start applying Friday at centers in the communities of Omak and Colville.
It is the first time the state has asked for volunteers as an explosive fire season has led to the deaths of three firefighters and the evacuation of entire towns.
It comes even after fire managers from Australia and New Zealand were recruited to help combat blazes in the West.
President Barack Obama on Friday declared an emergency and authorized the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts.
The order 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.
Elsewhere in the west:
Idaho
Evacuations have been ordered in northern Idaho as a group of wildfires that has already destroyed 42 homes threatened more residences on Friday. Nearly 800 firefighters were trying to beat back the flames.
Idaho had 17 large fires — the most in the nation.
Fire managers told residents near the town of Weippe to flee the fires that have scorched 63 square miles of mostly timber.
Oregon
Firefighters faced gusty conditions Friday as they battled two new wildfires that threatened dozens of homes and a school in eastern Oregon.
Some of the 900 people who had been battling another fire that destroyed 36 homes east of Portland were diverted to fight one of the new fires near Prairie City. Homeowners were put on evacuation alert ahead of hotter weather expected over the weekend.
The other new blaze in the remote northeastern corner of Oregon threatened more than 100 homes and a school.
Meanwhile, a weeks-old blaze near John Day has scorched almost 100 square miles. At least 700 structures are threatened, and evacuation orders persist.
California
More than 12,000 firefighters are battling 17 wildfires across California.
A fire that has burned for nearly three weeks on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada grew to 60 square miles near Kings Canyon National Park and was bearing down on popular Hume Lake.
The fire is moving so quickly that the incident command post was moved from the lake to the ranger station in the Sequoia National Forest.
More than 2,500 campers, hikers, employees and residents have been evacuated this week.
Montana
Officials were worried that high winds and possible thunderstorms expected Friday in western Montana could exacerbate a wildfire approaching a town near Glacier National Park.
The conditions could force some 100 residents of Essex to evacuate. A nearby 55-mile stretch of highway and rail corridor has been closed.
Near the Idaho border, residents of about 50 homes have been ordered to leave and those in neighboring areas were told to get ready to flee.
Colorado
Smoke from wildfires led Colorado officials to expand a health advisory to the northern half of the state. The heavily populated Denver-Fort Collins area was included in the advisory.
The National Weather Service warned that wildfire danger was high in northwest Colorado because of gusty winds, low humidity and dry vegetation. Crews were monitoring two small lightning-caused wildfires.
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