Western wildfires: Firefighters to get additional resources

The massive cloud of smoke is expected to lift over the wildfires in Washington state on Sunday, but as air quality improves fire behavior could become more erratic and intense, fire officials said.

Still, the Washington fires have created problems in B.C.as smoke drifts north, including air quality warnings.

The lightning-caused Canyon-Creek Complex of fires has burned about 109 square miles since August 12.

Once the smoke lifts, humidity drops, heat rises and fires can flare up. But the most effective weapon in the increasingly sophisticated arsenal remains the many thousands of young men and women who, each year, spend their summers removing flammable materials around wildfires with chainsaws and hand-held tools.

Reduced visibility means aircraft have been grounded and the thick haze makes it more hard to spot new fires, Skrepnek said.

Spokesman Dan Omdal says containment does not mean the fire has stopped burning.

Now the air quality rating in the Central Okanagan is at 10-plus, which is “very high risk”. Look for opportunities to burn off, strengthen control lines… Omdal says some of the land within the fire lines is still on fire, but other sections have been tamed.

Meanwhile, county officials have downgraded some evacuation notices, allowing some people to return to their homes.

Steve Surgeon, a mechanic and scrap metal seller who lives on the outskirts of Okanogan, said he was just happy to be alive.

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

“That’s an enormous challenge for this team but they seem to be getting a handle on where they need to work and where the resources need to go”, he said.

Meanwhile, officials say three firefighters injured in a fire near Twisp, Washington, on Wednesday are recuperating at home after being released from the hospital. “Everything else can be replaced”.

“But all my titles to everything were in the shop, and that’s burned to the ground”, he said.

Qualified citizens – not just professional firefighters – are now invited to join the battle against the blazes, the state Department of Natural Resources said on its webpage.

Three firefighters – Tom Zbyszewski, Richard Wheeler and Andrew Zajac – died Wednesday when flames consumed their crashed vehicle as they tried to escape this fire.

Otherwise in Washington, a new firefighting mobilization center is being set up at Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane to help fight wildfires.

They said the center, managed by a 17-person hazard management team from San Diego, will be a staging area for 20 large fire engines from Utah, Nevada, Arizona and Colorado, along with 10 water tankers.

Rogers said Saturday that the official tally of three homes and 33 other structures lost was preliminary.

The Okanogan Complex of wildfires was measured at 374 square miles (969 square kilometers) Sunday morning, after growing more than 100 square miles (260 square kilometers) larger Saturday in what fire officials said was a relatively calm fire day.

RCMP are investigating an incident last Sunday that saw planes and helicopters fighting fires in Oliver grounded for more than three hours because of a drone.