Wildfires rage on, firefighters need all the help they can get

“We are saddened that a life with such promise has ended so soon and we will miss him deeply”, the statement said.

“They’re out there trying to save property and protect lives and end up succumbing to the situation so it’s very tragic”, said Tony Marsala Sr., the deputy fire chief in South Haven.

“Our commitment to assist in this national effort to battle these unsafe fires is unwavering”, said Bob Martin, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Brad Craig of Omak was told to evacuate on Wednesday, but he kept coming back to check on his home.

Many are college students who need money, find they like the work, and eventually become leaders on fire crews, said Joe Smillie, a spokesman for Washington’s Department of Natural Resources.

Wildfires have burned this month in several western states – including Oregon, California, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Montana and Wyoming.

State officials said the deployment will not affect the ability of the state Forest Fire Service to fight any wildfires in New Jersey.

A multitude of large wildfires burning across arid Washington state have so overtaxed firefighters that officials took the unprecedented step of calling for volunteers to help fight the flames.

The three firefighters who died were based in Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, said forest spokeswoman Carrie McCausland.

What authorities described as a “hellstorm” of flames driven by shifting winds overtook Andrew Zajac, 26, and his crew Wednesday after they crashed their vehicle while fighting a wildfire outside Twisp in north central Washington.

A NIFC spokesperson said those Australian firefighters will arrive here in Washington Monday, be briefed Tuesday and will head out to the fire lines Wednesday, providing much needed relief for their American counterparts.

“I feel like there’s better coordination than there’s been in the past”, she said. Another firefighter remains in critical condition at Harborview with burns over 60 percent of his body. His father, who died when Wheeler was 2, was a firefighter, too.

About 25 miles (40 km) farther south along the same river, emergency officials early on Friday issued additional evacuation orders for parts of Okanogan, a larger town at the western edge of the Colville Indian Reservation, urging evacuees in a Facebook posting “not to wait for door-to-door notification”.

“There were some big runs yesterday”, Isaacson said Saturday morning.

The Chelan Complex fires grew by Friday to a combined 134,602 acres, fire information officer Wayne Patterson said.

Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers said Friday a group of firefighters tried to escape the flames in two vehicles and on foot.

More details are emerging about the incident in which three firefighters died while battling huge wildfires in north-central Washington. “With the high danger the firefighters are experiencing it is crucial we maintain our communications and power equipment and I appreciate the quick review of our request from our federal partners”. That figure falls within the 100 to 300 range typical for this point in the Western wildfire season.

Fire managers told residents near the town of Weippe late Thursday to flee the fires that have scorched 63 square miles of mostly timber and are partially contained.