Wildfire Destroys 35,000 Acres

Firefighters Monday continued to battle a 35,000-acre wildfire that had whipped through canyons, wheat fields and forest land in southeastern Washington, destroying dozens of homes and cabins.

Fire crews had good lines around three sides of the fire but remained concerned about heavy timber in the Umatilla National Forest to the south.

“Within the forest, it was a true firestorm,” said Clay Barr, director of emergency management for Garfield County.

Firefighters were working to assess damage in areas still smoldering. Though more than 100 structures were believed to have burned, about 20 of those were probably full-time homes, with the rest being hunting cabins, recreational homes and smaller structures.

One firefighter was injured Monday when a vehicle overturned.

The cause of the blaze remained under investigation, though fire officials believed it was not caused by lightning, said Don Ferguson of the Northwest Fire Coordination Center.

The fire, about 10 miles south of Pomeroy, was estimated at about 150 acres Saturday morning, but then exploded, forcing rapid evacuations. Farmers plowed broad swaths through fields of wheat and other crops, trying to create fire breaks and save this year’s harvest.

In central Washington, a 1,100-acre wildfire near Lake Wenatchee that had threatened homes was 60% contained, officials said Monday. No homes had been evacuated.

And in north-central Washington, a blaze estimated at 1,300 acres was 25% contained. The fire, about 21 miles southeast of Tonasket, started Saturday and destroyed a barn.

Authorities ordered a number of homes evacuated near the small town of Eureka, Mont., where a wildfire had blackened about 875 acres since starting Sunday. Neither the U.S. Forest Service nor Lincoln County officials had a count on the number of homes affected.