New evacuations as Table Mountain wildfire triples in size

NBC News reports that new evacuations came Thursday as eight-inch chunks of burning bark were reported to have fallen in Mission Ridge. Those chunks were coming from an explosive fire inside the Table Mountain Complex some six miles away, a fire incident spokesman said.

The Table Mountain Complex of wildfires in Chelan and Kittitas counties has tripled in size to more than 47 square miles

Fire spokeswoman Jan Ulrich says a combination of factors caused the complex to grow and merge into one large fire on Wednesday.

Those factors include warm temperatures, winds, very low humidity and low moisture in the vegetation in the area. The National Weather Service says there's no significant rain in the forecast in the state for the next seven days.

Eastern Washington residents will have to wait longer for the showers needed to douse wildfires.

Ulrich says the fire is being fought by 655 firefighters and is 4 percent contained. About 600 homes are threatened, but the fire has burned only one outbuilding.

The Table Mountain Complex is one of several wildfires burning on the eastern slopes of the Cascade Range. The largest, the Wenatchee River Complex, has grown to about 61 square miles.