Wildfires Threaten Towns in Washington
Huge Washington Wildfires Bear Down on Countryside Communities
Huge wildfires tore through a rural region of central Washington early Saturday, prompting evacuation orders for hundreds of homes and leaving behind a trail of charred countryside. On Friday, most of the 500 residents of Malott were evacuated, Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers told The Associated Press. Rogers later told the AP that at least one home burned in Malott. According to local newspaper The Wenatchee World, officials lifted evacuation warnings for Brewster, a city of 2,400 just north along the Columbia River from Pateros, which was hit hard Thursday night by one of the fires in the Carlton Complex.
Nearly 100 homes burned in Pateros and surrounding areas late Thursday and early Friday. Since they were ignited by lightning Monday, the Carlton Complex fires have burned 260 square miles, according to emergency officials. Smoke from those fires and another complex farther south has made air quality in Wenatchee, Leavenworth and other cities unhealthy, according to Chelan County Emergency Management. The smoke has extended 150 miles east to Spokane, the AP said.
