Tagged: Washington wildfires

WENATCHEE, Wash. — Crews in central Washington are working to protect homes wildfires as a destructive fire season stretches into September with no relief expected from the weather anytime soon.

WHITE SALMON, Wash. — Fire crews plan to work through the night to construct containment lines around two fast-moving new wildfires threatening dozens of homes in south-central Washington along the Columbia River Gorge.

Two hunters who were reported missing during a wildfire in eastern Oregon have been located and are safe. But Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer says there's new concern about a pair of hikers who are thought to be in the vicinity of the Parish Cabin Fire.

Palmer says the hikers are from Portland and aren't thought to be in immediate danger. But he says they could end up stranded if the fire continues to spread.

CLE ELUM, Wash. – Firefighting officials say a stubborn wildfire that destroyed dozens of homes in central Washington has been completely contained after a two-week fight.

Fire crews in central Washington say they’ll need a couple more days to contain the last 10 percent of the Taylor Bridge fire.

High winds are challenging crews battling the Taylor Bridge fire in central Washington; and crews fighting the Trinity Ridge fire in Idaho are in a standoff with that fire, waiting for it to reach lower ground.

CLE ELUM, Wash. – Firefighters are hoping to reach containment Tuesday on a fire that has burned dozens of homes east of the Cascades.

CLE ELUM, Wash. — Many of the residents who had to run for their lives from a central Washington wildfire are being allowed back into the evacuation area Friday to see whether their homes are still standing.

A spokesman at the fire command center in Cle Elum, Mick Mueller, says residents are returning to the south and east side of the 35-square mile burn zone.

He says utility crews also are working to restore power in the area, even as firefighters continue to put out hot spots.

Prolonged hot and dry weather is amping up wildfire activity across the inland Northwest. At the Northwest Interagency Fire Coordination Center in Portland, spokeswoman Carol Connolly says here in early August we're at a turning point in fire season.

"Typically, we'll see these grass fires in early summer. We're right on target for the kind of crossover. We still see those range and grass fires, but I think we're going to start seeing those timber fires as we continue to get more lightning activity."