Cal Fire: Largest wildfire in CA, Rocky Fire, fully contained

Chelan Hospital began evacuating all patients around 2 p.m. due to heavy smoke, but decided to keep its emergency room open.

But an unexpected group is on the front lines of firefighting efforts – thousands of California state prisoners.

An earlier, larger fire in the same area was finally fully contained Friday more than two weeks after it broke out. Fires are being attributed to widespread droughts. It was 80 percent contained by Saturday.

There are now 30 large wildfires burning in Oregon and Washington. Habitat will be a key consideration when federal officials decide if the birds need protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Wildfires raging across multiple states are forcing evacuations and other protective measures.

A Level 2 evacuation notice has been sent to residents along Forest Service Road 77 near Tamarack Camp Ground, Bennett Peak and Main Eagle areas associated with the Eagle Complex. Kent Sisson reported that Chelan Fruit lost a warehouse and Chelan Lumber lost a building.

Also, a wildfire in a rugged area near the Canadian border chased hundreds of people from their homes and burned 10 to 12 structures, and a blaze northeast of Colville scorched nearly five square miles and forced evacuations at campgrounds in the area.

The fire is roughly shaped like a triangle with rounded edges with the center at Rattlesnake Ridge in the Malheur National Forest.

In northern Idaho, wind-driven wildfires burning out of control prompted authorities on Friday to order the evacuation of dozens of homes on the outskirts of a small mountain town of Kamiah. They are led by a fire captain, and unlike the prisons where they are coming from, there are no guards out on the front lines. In addition, for each day they work in the program, the inmates receive a two-day reduction from their sentences. At its best, the program is a win-win situation: Inmates learn useful skills and spend time outside the normal confines of prison, and the collaboration with Cal Fire saves the state roughly $80 million a year. Inmates accepted into the program no longer have to sleep in prisons, but are moved to barracks-style lodges.

Residents have been evacuated from the Alder Creek, Burnt River Canyon, Dry Creek, Cry Creek Cutoff, Ebell Creek, and Hill Creek Road areas have been evacuated.

The fire has also burned down power poles, and Idaho Power crews have been working to replace them. A wildfire at the Happy Camp Complex in California is growing, now at 134,056 acres.

There are 73 large fires burning in the U.S., mostly stretching from northern California to Montana.

The Idaho State Department of Agriculture website has a list of resources and Brooke Jacobson, ISDA range program specialist, also has information on grazing allotment status, regulations on public lands and more.

Widespread droughts and windy conditions are contributing to the fires, according to The Guardian.