Downers Grove man dies fighting fires in Washington

“I want to say this is an unprecedented cataclysm in our state“, Inslee said. “Previous year was bad with 250,000 acres”.

Some 71 firefighters and other personnel had been requested, although the final details were still being worked out, the NIFC said. At least 110 buildings have burned down, CNN affiliate KIRO reported.

“Our commitment to assist in this national effort to battle these unsafe fires is unwavering”, said Bob Martin, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection. One vehicle made it out safely, but the other carrying the three firefighters who were killed crashed.

Top fire officials said there simply hasn’t been enough manpower.

Authorities on Wednesday afternoon urged people in the north-central Washington town to evacuate because of a fast-moving wildfire. That’s the vehicle in which the three firefighters died.

“I was coming over several times a day to check on it”, Craig said.

Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers said the threat to people and homes was lower.

“We mourn the loss of the courageous firefighters whose commitment to duty was so deep that they gave their own lives to protect others”.

“Coordinators will review citizens’ offers for resources and direct them to where they can be most beneficial”, the state Department of Natural Resources said.

31-year-old Richard Wheeler, a U.S. Forest Service firefighter, grew up in South Haven.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee painted a dire picture as dozens of fires roared throughout the state.

“We’re going to miss him more than anything in the whole world”, added his father, Richard Zbyszewski. He is also a reserve police officer in Milton, near Tacoma. “It was in his blood and in his heart and he loved it”, Morey said. It’s the first time the military has assisted in battling wildfires since 2006.

There were 820 firefighters fighting the blazes Friday, two days after flames overran firefighters, killing three and injuring four. “And the winds are still blowing”. Twisp and Winthrop don’t have power, he said.

The First Creek blaze jumped containment lines on Wednesday evening, triggering road closures and prompting authorities to extend evacuation orders to some 800 people, Magnussen said.

The Okanogan fires “are all kind of bleeding together at this point, and threatening (the town of) Okanogan pretty seriously and Omak, too”, Goldmark said. She said she was encouraged by President Barack Obama’s disaster declaration and the amount of coordination between firefighters at the local, state and federal levels. “The hours that they work and physical stress can be compared to our (soldiers) being out in the field”. Three of them, including two of the largest, were burning in Okanogan County.

The fire has destroyed at least 73 structures in Chelan and Douglas counties.

Firefighters brace for more high winds in the forecast through Friday that threaten to stoke wildfires burning across Eastern Washington.

The deaths underscored the danger of this fire season. Long-range spotting is anticipated along with extreme fire behaviour.

“The contingent from Australia and New Zealand is expected to arrive in Boise, Idaho” on Sunday, the National Interagency Fire Center said in a statement. “We are proud to be sending our dedicated and fearless crews”.

The bill is still coming in on the cost of this year’s fire season in Saskatchewan.

Further evacuations were ordered on Friday around Nespelem, a tiny settlement in the interior of the Colville Reservation, where homes and businesses were threatened by a separate blaze that has blackened some 88,000 acres (35,600 hectares) of tribal lands.

In addition to the wildfires burning in Washington and Oregon, Idaho has also been hit hard this fire season.