3 firefighters die in wildfire after vehicle crashes

The Rocky Fire burned nearly 70,000 acres, or 109 square miles, in Lake, Yolo and Colusa Counties over 16 days until August 14. There were 10 fatalities last year and 15 in 2012.

An emergency vehicle drives down Twisp River Road as a wildfire burns over the hillside in Twisp, Wash., Wednesday, August 19, 2015. “Everything was burning.” He added: “We know it was a firestorm in there”.

The fatal crash occurred near the town of Twisp, the National Forest Service said.

The Chelan complex was more than 123,000 acres in size Thursday and 50 percent contained. “We should have more rate of spread and more acreage burned than yesterday”.

GFC’s Frank Sorrells says the firefighters are part of 20 person crews and are doing everything from fighting fires by hand to managing the firefighting effort.

“We are devastated by the tragic loss of three of our Forest Service firefighters”, Mike Williams, Forest Supervisor on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, said.

Seydel said air quality in the town of Okanogan, where many emergency officials were based, was poor, with ash falling.

The wildfire scorching a rural Washington State county was unpredictable and fast, an inferno that was hard to dodge.

The firefighters were on an “initial attack” operation when they had a vehicle accident. Rogers posited that the flames then overtook them.

U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell and Gov. Kate Brown were to be visit the fire command post on Wednesday at the Grant County Fairgrounds, where food, clothing and household goods for victims were being handed out.

Of the injured, two are with the state Department of Natural Resources, one is a department contractor and one is a U.S. Forest Service employee.

National Guard troops – some of whom will undergo rudimentary firefighting techniques before being deployed and some who underwent training in March – will be assigned to fires where the greatest need matches their level of training, Eagle said. With 40 miles per hour wind gusts in the forecast for Thursday, firefighters will mourn the loss of their fellow firefighters while continuing to battle the fires.

“It’s going to be a long day because the wind is predicted to shift and pick up”, Kerns said. “And the winds are still blowing”. “Everything is being used right now, so competition for resources is fierce”.

Officials ordered people in the towns of Twisp and Winthrop to evacuate.

Lightning caused that fire, authorities said. The hospital said the public is welcome to send the firefighter notes of encouragement. “The sheer amount of physical labor is pretty intense”.

Fires have blackened more than 1 million acres across the arid Western region, prompting fire managers to call in help from the U.S. Army and overseas to reinforce civilian crews. There are 649 firefighters assigned to the blaze, one of 11 large fires burning across Oregon.

More than 200,000 acres have already been scorched by fire across Washington this year and endangered residents were recently evacuated from the towns of Twisp, Riverside, and Winthrop, with dozens staying in or camping outside of a Red Cross shelter in nearby Brewster.