More Evacuations in Okanogan County Early Friday Morning

Three firefighters — Tom Zbyszewski, Richard Wheeler and Andrew Zajac — died Wednesday when flames consumed their crashed vehicle in Washington state.

The most badly hurt among the those injured Wednesday was Daniel Lyon, 25, a reserve police officer in Milton, who suffered burns over 60 percent of his body and was in critical condition at a hospital in Seattle.

About 200 active-duty military personnel will help fight the wildfires in seven Western states, the first time since 2006 that soldiers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, have been deployed for such duty.

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. “We appreciate all offers of qualified and trained support”.

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.

Fire spokeswoman Suzanne Flory said there could be some explosive fire growth on Sunday if a cap of smoke lifted from Okanogan County, as had been forecast.

All through last week, weather was a key variable on the tactics used by firefighters.

“We’re at the very brink as I understand it”. Pieces of foundation, charred metal pipes and a burned-out truck were all that remained.

No new deaths or injuries have been reported, Pechota said. In this photo taken on Friday evening, August 21, 2015, Gold Bar fire Lt. Scott Coulson investigates brush fires in the hills outside of Omak, Wash., as wildfires continue to burn throughout north-central Washington. M…

Meanwhile, a weeks-old blaze near John Day has scorched nearly 100 square miles.

After a week of deadly fires forcing evacuations of whole towns and pushing fire officials to scramble for more help, Saturday was calm. It was two-thirds contained.

The governor’s office says the next group will begin training next week.

The eastern halves of both Oregon and Washington were under air quality alerts due to heavy smoke lingering in the air, according to the National Weather Service.

As conditions deteriorated, emergency officials urged the evacuation before dawn Friday of areas on the northwest outskirt of the community of Okanogan, but they didn’t immediately know how many people were affected. They recommend limiting time outdoors and avoiding strenuous activity. “The United States Forest Service, which works under the authority of the Department of Agriculture, is better equipped to deal with fires this year than previously – the service hired almost 800 new firefighters for California alone”. That’s the earliest the 7 million mark has been reached in the past 20 years, it said, adding that a large portion of this was from Alaskan wildfires several months ago.

Officials were anxious that high winds and possible thunderstorms expected Friday in western Montana could exacerbate a wildfire approaching a town near Glacier National Park.