Military to Join Wildfire Fight

Aitor Bidaburu, chairman of the National Multi-Agency Coordinating Group said, “The U.S. military has been a key partner in wildland firefighting for decades, and we greatly appreciate their willingness to provide us with soldiers to serve as firefighters”.

The troops will be divided into 10 crews with 20 people each, and will work on the same blaze starting Sunday.

Dave Lewman, an employee, told CNN affiliate KIRO about 1,000 people worked for the company.

“The challenge is we have so many fires where public safety is an issue”.

For days, firefighters in central Washington have been up against stubborn flames that appear as quickly as firefighters can put them out.

Two other wild horses were euthanized, and Tiel-Nelson said more may be found killed by the so-called Soda fire, which was nearing containment on Tuesday after burning more than 280,000 acres (110,000 hectares).

Lightning on Wednesday ignited the Canyon Creek Complex Fire, one mile from the communities of John Day and Canyon City. Gen. Bret Daugherty, commander of the Washington National Guard.

A red flag warning is in effect for parts of California, where four years of drought have made it easy for flames to spread. The fire has destroyed 49 structures, including homes and businesses, in Chelan and neighboring Douglas County, said Janet Pearce, spokeswoman for the Chelan Complex fire.

Preparedness Level 5 Description: Geographic Areas are experiencing major incidents which have the potential to exhaust all agency fire resources.

More than 600 personnel are on scene and working to steer the fire away from Diamond Lake, but weather forecasts have teams concerned about more warming and drying, with the low humidity in the area resulting from a thermal trough that may also lead to shifting winds and a very unstable atmosphere.

In the first eight months of 2015, almost 7 million acres have been scorched by wildfires across the U.S.as a result of 40,509 seperate blazes.

“We had nine chickens, and I had to just kick open the chicken coop door and let them fend for themselves”, he said.

The so-called Reach Fire was one of a number of blazes that erupted after multiple lightning strikes in the region. About 50 homes have been destroyed and 1,500 people are under evacuation orders.

As ash fell Sunday on downtown Chelan, Washington, a nearby fruit packing cooperative that called itself the world’s largest stood in ruins.

“It’s quite a disaster”, Reggie Collins, the co-op’s general manager, told local newspaper Capital Press. He estimates his losses at $80 million.

Video from the area on Monday shows lakefront homes burned to their foundations next to boats docked at shore. “‘Our other plant in Chelan is fully operational”, he said.

Earlier this year the federal government expressed concerns that a risky and bad wildfire season might be coming. Two weeks ago, the Oregon National Guard deployed helicopters to aid firefighters on the ground battling the Stouts fire near Canyonville, Oregon.