The largest wildfire recorded in Washington state history had grown by more than 22 square miles by Friday, and high winds predicted for the weekend will test fire lines constructed this week.
Fire officials also are hopeful that lower temperatures and higher humidity will help them this weekend.
The Okanogan Complex Fire in north-central Washington had burned 472 square miles. It was only 12 percent contained after windy conditions Thursday.
Officials said the fire had destroyed at least 45 primary residences, 49 cabins and 60 outbuildings. Three firefighters have died battling the fire.
The three, killed in a wildfire near Twisp in Okanogan County last week, died from smoke inhalation and “thermal injuries,” or burns, Okanogan County Coroner Dave Rodriguez said Friday.
They were driving up a steep gravel road and crashed down a 40-foot embankment, where the fire consumed them. The manner of death was classified as accidental.
Those killed Aug. 19 were Richard Wheeler, 31, Andrew Zajac, 26, and Tom Zbyszewski, 20. A memorial service is planned Sunday in Wenatchee. Another firefighter injured in the crash, Daniel Lyon, 25, was in critical condition Thursday night at Harborview Medical Center. Lyon had a successful burn surgery earlier this week and was “stable in intensive care,” according to the hospital’s spokeswoman Susan Gregg.
Firefighters from Australia and New Zealand have arrived to fight the growing fires, providing a boost to those already battling the blazes.
About a dozen international firefighters arrived in camp to help with the Okanogan fire Thursday night, said Rick Isaacson, a public-information officer. At least two were at the Friday morning briefing at the North Star fires, said Kathy Moses, a public-information officer for those fires.
Extra help was welcome as fires continued their steady growth: Besides the Okanogan fire, the North Star fire to the east is about 300 square miles.
Isaacson said Okanogan complex firefighters had the “typical problems we have every afternoon when the temperature warms. We get a little inversion lift and the forest kind of wakes up and takes off,” he said. “We got lines out there, but it still pushes and moves and burns up more fuel.”
Some of the increased growth of the North Star fire is due to controlled burns meant to slow the fire’s spread.
The fire has been moving toward the Republic area. Some areas outside of town remain under Level 3 evacuations.
Today, a cold front is expected to bring high winds to the Okanogan Fire Complex, but officials do not expect a repeat of the extreme spotting and flare-ups that occurred last week when winds surged.
That’s because this time around, the winds will be accompanied by lower temperatures (about 10 degrees cooler) and higher humidity that should help to tamp down fire activity.
“We’re really optimistic,” said Sierra Helstrom, a public-information officer for the fire, said Friday. “It is a completely different forecast from what we were looking at last week when we had the combination of heat, low humidity and high winds. Tomorrow we’re only getting one of the three.”
