Three firefighters die tackling Washington state wildfire

Three firefighters have been killed and three to four more have been injured while battling raging wildfires, a sheriff in north-central Washington state says.

It wasn’t immediately clear if the four injured were also involved in the accident.

One of the injured firefighters is in critical condition with severe burns, a spokesman for Harborview Medical Center in Seattle said. Rogers said the firefighters suffered “non-life threatening injuries”.

“They gave their lives to protect others”, he said. “It was their calling, but the loss for their families is enormous and I know the community will come together to support them”.

Twisp and Winthrop each have fewer than 1,000 full-time residents. Authorities on Wednesday afternoon urged people in the north-central Washington town to evacuate because of a fast-moving wildfi…

“[A government spokeswoman] said right now there are 37 large fires that are uncontained burning in Oregon and Washington”. The winds caused the fire to turn on them, trapping them in the inferno. “It’s spreading everywhere”, Ms Dies said.

Circumstances of how the failure of the heater started the fire are also still under investigation, authorities said.

The Rocky Fire burned nearly 70,000 acres, or 109 square miles in 16 days this month.

The fire forced residents from Twisp and towns around the area to evacuate.

Gov. Jay Inslee has asked Pres. Barack Obama to declare a federal emergency for the fires that have consumed more than 235,000 acres this summer.

A larger group of fires burning to the east covered about 50 square miles (130 sq. kilometers) and prompted the evacuation of Conconully, home to about 200 people.

Winds have been light in the region with about 5 to 10 miles per hour winds around Winthrop but that’s deceiving because wildfires will create their own weather, AccuWeather Meteorologist Steve Travis said. No open flames – from campfires to candles – will be allowed in state parks.

A blaze in eastern Oregon that destroyed 36 homes and threatened 500 more has become the nation’s top priority for firefighting resources Wednesday.

California’s drought has already cost the state billions of dollars and placed thousands of jobs at risk. The mobilization signals how strong the conflagrations have become. Officials said temperatures will climb above 90 degrees and relative humidity will drop as low as 14 percent.

Late Wednesday, fire crews from multiple agencies continued to battle the wildfire, which had incinerated a few hundred acres of land.

“You ll see firefighters from all over assisting with the western wildfires”, she said, adding that personnel from the eastern seaboard to Alaska had been tapped.

Two Black Hawk helicopters arrived Friday and five 20-person hand crews arrived Sunday evening to join 350 firefighters battling one of the state’s most active fires, Cougar Creek, on the southeastern slopes of Mount Adams.