Deadly Washington wildfire rages on

The U.S. Fire Service identified three firefighters who were killed when their vehicle overturned while battling a wildfire in Washington state. There were 10 fatalities past year and 15 in 2012.

In addition to activating the National Guard to fight fires in both states, a reciprocity agreement with Australian fire officials will bring qualified fire line supervisors from down under to the Pacific Northwest in the next several days, Eagle said.

The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for the eastern portion of the state until 5 p.m. Friday.

“It hurts deep”, said U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert.

Officials don’t know how many homes or other buildings have been destroyed but ordered part of the community of Okanogan, with 2,500 residents, to evacuate as well as Tonasket, a community of 1,000 people, and its surrounding area. The third was already a professional firefighter who had gone back to school to earn his master’s degree.

Their vehicle crashed, and before they could escape, flames rolled over them, killing three firefighters inside and injuring four others nearby, one critically, authorities said. The wildfire scorching a rural county in Washington was unpredictable and fast, an inferno that was hard to dodge.

The flames had not reached Twisp, but they were headed in that direction, Rogers said.

Tom Zbyszewski, 20, Andrew Zajac, 26, and Richard Wheeler, 31, were members of an engine crew from Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest in central Washington. The U.S. Forest Service said it is close to exhausting this year’s budget for battling fires.

West, 23, added: “But I do have to say that we feel we are really well prepared”.

For Oregon, which has lost 40 firefighters, the worst day came on July 6, 1994, when 14 firefighters – including nine with the Prineville Hotshots – died on Storm King Mountain in the South Canyon fire near Glenwood Springs, Colorado. “It’s not going out tonight”, Rogers said. “The hearth was racing and the winds have been blowing in each course after which it will shift”.

Shindelar explained that with so many fires and limited resources, firefighters might be feeling stressed. “The sheer amount of physical labor is pretty intense”. Working with all of our agencies.

The Okanogan Complex has also taken the lives of three firefighters. Wildfires have destroyed at least 50 homes and 60 other structures in the state this year.

More black smoke could be seen on the horizon near Twisp Thursday evening while winds continued to pick up in Central Washington, according to KIRO Radio reporter Josh Kerns.

Almost 29,000 firefighters are battling some 100 large blazes across the West, including Idaho, Oregon, Montana and California. “The fires have just exploded”, she said Wednesday evening.

Friday morning we met with Wheeler’s mom Karen, who describes her son as a young man with an awesome sense of humor and a strong faith. Of the four firefighters injured, one was employed by the Forest Service, two worked for the state Department of Natural Resources and one was a contractor with the department.