Major Washington Wildfire Was Human-Caused

August 6,2013

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An Oregon Department of Forestry firefighting crew on Abbot Butte near Sunriver, Ore. watches for fires as a lightning storm moves across Central Oregon on July 31, 2013. (AP Photo/The Bulletin/Rob Kerr)

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WENATCHEE, Wash. — Fire investigators have decided that a central Washington wildfire that has burned more than 125 square miles was human caused but they're not saying how it started or who started it in late July.
The Wenatchee World reports that Colockum Tarps Fire spokeswoman Mary Ellen Fitzgerald said Monday evening in a statement that more details would be released when the investigation is wrapped up. The fire is 60 percent contained.
The Mile Marker 28 fire near Goldendale in south-central Washington has burned across 41 square miles. By late Monday it was fully contained.
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Elsewhere, fire crews have responded to about a dozen new fires that were sparked by lightning in central Washington.
KPQ reports the 11 fires are in Kittitas, Chelan and Okanogan counties.
Jim Duck of the Central Washington Interagency Coordination Center says thunderstorms Sunday generated more than 4,500 lightning strikes in Washington, sparking fires from the Methow Valley to Cle Elum. Duck says all of the fires are now staffed with firefighting crews.

Fire Burns at Yellowstone

Firefighters are working to protect backcountry cabins from a wildfire burning along the border of Yellowstone National Park and the Bridger-Teton National Forest.
The Snake Fire was estimated to be burning on 200 acres Tuesday. It was discovered Monday evening about three miles east of Yellowstone's South Entrance. The cause is under investigation.
Some trails and backcountry campsites in that section of the park have been closed but all roads through the park remain open.
It's one of a handful of wildfires burning in northwestern Wyoming, many of which are very small.
The other big fires in the region include a 400-acre fire near Bondurant, which is 20 percent contained. The Hardluck Fire in the Washakie (WASH'-ah-kee) Wilderness has spread to about 6,400 acres because of hotter, windier weather.

Blaze Rages in Southern California

A raging wildfire gave a scare to hundreds of residents who fled their homes in canyon neighborhoods in inland Southern California, but the tall walls of flame were tame after night fell, and thick smoke was beginning to give way to clear air.
The fire with no containment near Lake Elsinore in Riverside County remained a danger, however, and about 100 homes remained under evacuation orders late Monday, the U.S. Forest Service said.
It started near the lake in Cleveland National Forest in midmorning, growing slowly at first but surging in the afternoon as temperatures hovered near 100 degrees.
It had burned a swath of more than 2 square miles and crept very close to homes, the U.S. Forest Service said.
(MORE: Colorado Road Washed Out After Wildfire)

AP Photo/The Press-Enterprise, Kurt Miller

Flames from the Falls Fire burn on a hillside along South Main Divide Road in the Cleveland National Forest as firefighters drive through the area on Monday, Aug. 5, 2013.

Two communities of about 50 houses apiece, Decker Canyon and Rancho Capistrano, were under evacuation orders.
Parts of the much larger Lakeland Village, home to more than 11,000 people, were also told to evacuate, but the order was canceled after a few hours. It's not clear how many people evacuated.
Brittiany Simons, manager of Las Palmas restaurant near Lake Elsinore, said customers weren't deterred by the drizzle of ash or the brown haze over residential streets. Families filled the eatery Monday evening, unfazed by the smell of smoke permeating the air.
Simons said the fire quickly escalated from a small fire this morning to the scorching wildfire it is now.
"When I came into work, you could see the flames rolling down the hill," Simons said.
About 265 firefighters worked the blaze, aided by five helicopters and five planes, including a DC-10.
No structures had burned, and no one was injured