Western wildfires destroy Wash. homes
Pastor Dale Morgan
Western wildfires destroy Wash. homes *
The Associated Press
Wednesday, August 09, 2006 11:32 p.m. ET
VALLEY, Wash. (AP) -- Dozens of residents were evacuated Tuesday and
more were warned to be ready to leave as a wildfire north of Spokane
grew quickly to 300 acres, destroying seven homes, authorities said.
Firefighters were trying to get a handle on the blaze near the small
community of Valley, about 40 miles north of Spokane. County
Commissioner Merrill Ott estimated that 40 to 50 homes were in the
fire's path.
Several aircraft were helping fight the fire and more were on order, he
said. The only reported injury was a firefighter with a laceration.
The State Patrol closed a stretch of U.S. Highway 395 between Jump Off
Joe Lake and Chewelah. Other roads were closed as well.
"Resources from all over the state will converge here," said Steve
Harris, a spokesman for the state Department of Natural Resources. "It's
going to take several days to get this thing looking really good."
In Idaho, a force of 767 firefighters faced tough terrain as wind-blown
wildfires engulfed thousands of acres Tuesday.
"It's a running battle mainly because it's very rugged, steep and hard
to get people in," said David Eaker of the Great Basin National Incident
Management Team.
One fire burned an abandoned cabin and threatened 10 evacuated homes
near Bonanza that have been wrapped in fireproofing material and rigged
with roof sprinklers.
Elsewhere on the Salmon-Challis National Forest, there were 29 new
lightning-sparked fires reported Tuesday. Crews were being sent in to
try to prevent those fires from growing.
In north-central Washington, firefighters continued to battle four other
large fires while keeping watch for storms that could bring winds and
lightning. The fires had burned about 130 square miles.
Scattered thunderstorms forecast for eastern Washington were not
expected to produce much rain, but lightning strikes could spark new
blazes, the National Weather Service said.