Wildfires in Washington burn homes, lead to evacuations

A large, wind-whipped wildfire in rural north-central Washington has destroyed an estimated 100 homes, forced the evacuation of a small town and cut power to most of the scenic Methow Valley, located nearly 200 miles east of Seattle. 

The blaze, known as the "Carlton Complex Fire," had blackened 336 square miles by Friday morning, up dramatically from the last estimate of 260 square miles.

Officials reported no injuries, but said the wildfire has prompted the evacuation of Pateros, home to about 650 people in Okanogan County. A hospital in nearby Brewster was also evacuated as a precaution.

"There's nobody in Pateros" except a few "stragglers" who stayed, Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers said, adding that the fire was burning in the town, although the small business district was believed intact.

Rogers said Friday that his team counted 30 homes and trailers destroyed in Pateros, another 40 in a community just outside the town at Alta Lake and about 25 homes destroyed elsewhere in the county of about 40,000 people. 

A separate blaze called the "Chiwaukum Creek Fire" left a heavy layer of smoke visible, with two-day-old evacuation orders still in effect early Friday for nearly 900 dwellings near the town of Leavenworth.

At a press conference on Friday, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said the state had deployed about 2,000 firefighters, 12 helicopters from the Department of Natural Resources and the National Guard, and a Washington State Patrol spotter plane to fight the two fires.

He said that the state is rapidly training about 1,000 additional National Guard troops, and that active-duty military could be called in to help as well.

Wire services