Washington fires force evacuations
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Wildfires in eastern Washington state forced the evacuation of 60,000 people in the Spokane area while destroying at least 600 homes, businesses and other structures, authorities said Sunday.
The fires in and around Spokane, the state's second largest city, burned about 8.2 square miles over the weekend and were among dozens of wildfires across the Western U.S. that stretched the ability of federal, state and local agencies to fight them.
A total of about 390 square miles has burned across the state, and some of the fires, including those in the Spokane area, have not been contained.
No one hurt or unaccounted for
Fire and law enforcement officials said there had been no reports of injuries or people unaccounted for -- but they stressed it was early in the response effort.
Officials also said that the evacuees in Spokane included patients at its U.S. Veterans Affairs hospital.
Video from the Spokane area showed buildings on fire, black smoke billowing up near neighborhoods, and the smoking ruins of homes, with only chimneys still standing. Several officials expressed concern that the area does not appear likely to get a break in coming days from the weather, which is expected to remain dry.
"We are not out of danger," U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell said during a news conference with federal, state and local officials in Spokane. "The next couple of days will be challenging."
Investigators had yet to determine how the blazes started.
Grassland in flames
Spokane was hardly the only place struggling to contain fires.
Crews using bulldozers and helicopters continued for a 10th day to fight a fire that has burned nearly 525 square miles of grassland in western Idaho and eastern Oregon. The area is home to cattle ranches, and authorities said the fire is threatening more than 600 homes and 800 other structures.
The weather in the area was expected to remain sunny -- and dry -- well into the week, with temperatures rising to more than 90 degrees Fahrenheit on Wednesday. Officials say the fire was caused by lightning.
The National Weather Service issued warnings about the air quality in eastern Washington, eastern Oregon, western and central Idaho and western Montana. It issued red flag fire warnings for parts of Utah and Montana and western Nebraska, and extreme heat warnings for the southern parts of Arizona, California and Nevada and northern Montana.
While temperatures Sunday in Spokane were forecast to remain below 80 F, wind gusts from 35 mph to 45 mph had been expected by the afternoon, said Benjamin Cossel, public information officer for the federal response team from California called in Saturday night to deal with the fires.
"We have weather working against us, and we have terrain working against us," Cossel said.
There were three fires in the Spokane area: the Old Trails Fire, the Fairview Fire and the Meadowview Fire. Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson declared a state of emergency Saturday, and the National Weather Service issued a "particularly dangerous situation" red flag alert for eastern Washington.
Cossel said that as it gets warmer during the day, cool air that's closer to the ground and keeping winds at bay will rise, allowing those winds to move through the area.