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Thread: Washington wildfires the 'worst in the state's history'

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    Default Washington wildfires the 'worst in the state's history'

    Washington wildfires the 'worst in the state's history' as firefighters travel from Australia and New Zealand to help battle the blazes


    • One cluster of wildfires has destroyed more than 400 square miles of land and an estimated 200 homes
    • Emergency responders have drafted in the National Guard, 4,000 volunteers and 70 Antipodean firefighters
    • The blazes are breaking out in forests along the state's border with Canada and down into Oregon
    • Fires are being started by lightning strikes that ignite the tinder-dry forests, quickly spreading on the wind

    By Darren Boyle for MailOnline
    Published: 03:35 EST, 25 August 2015 | Updated: 08:08 EST, 25 August 2015


    The wildfires spreading across Washington and Oregon are now officially the worst since records began - with firefighters having to be drafted in from Australia and New Zealand to fight the flames.
    The biggest fire burning on Monday was in Okanogan County on the Canadian border, where a group of five fires raging out of control became the largest in state history, scorching more than 400 square miles, said fire spokesman Rick Isaacson.
    Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers said: 'I'd like to set some different records.'
    The devastating lightning-sparked fires there have so far claimed the lives of three firefighters and destroyed some 200 homes.
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    A helicopter comes down to take in water from Lake Chelan, Washington, before flying inland to douse the First Creek wildfire on Sunday


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    Residents confer with a firefighter while keeping an eye on a blaze on a hillside near Omak, Washington, on Sunday afternoon


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    New Zealand firefighter Warren Heslip, 47, receives a yellow firefighting shirt on Monday at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho


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    Wildfires are devastating huge areas of the Pacific North West in both Washington State and Oregon




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    Wildfires have broken out across the Pacific North West, with some 500,000 homes under threat.
    Such is the extent of the problem, 4,000 volunteers have been drafted in to help the professionals in trying to control the infernos.
    Members of the Washington National Guard have also been deployed - joined by 70 highly experienced firefighters from Australia and New Zealand, whose native wildfire season is six months away.
    Two hundred US troops from a base in Tacoma are also helping out - the first such use of active-duty soldiers in nine years.
    Jim Whittington, a Bureau of Land Management spokesman in Portland, Oregon, said military assets cannot be used against wildfires until all civilian resources are deployed.







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    Local resident Mike Elavsky, left, talks to fire officer Bill Queen about the fire inching closer to his home in Chelan, Washington, at the weekend


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    Such is the extent of the wildfires near Chelan that the moon appears red after its light is filtered through the smoke from the blaze



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    Smoke from the First Creek fire fills the sky over Lake Chelan. The state is appealing for volunteers to help firefighters battle the blazes

    Although 4,000 volunteers have answered the state's call for help, far more than will be accepted, said state Department of Natural Resources spokesman Joe Smillie.
    The state is looking for former firefighters or heavy equipment operators who can bulldoze fire lines to corral the blazes and keep them from spreading in mountainous, timber-covered areas. So far, about 200 people with the right experience have been cleared to work.
    The US is in the midst of one of its worst fire seasons on record, with some 11,600 square miles scorched so far. It's only the sixth-worst going back to 1960 - but it's the most acreage burned by this date in a decade, and the ranking is sure to rise.
    Thirteen firefighters have died nationwide this year, including the three in Washington state who were killed when they tried to escape in a vehicle that crashed and was overrun by flames.

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    One of the worst hit areas in Okanogan, Washington, has an area ablaze almost 20 miles wide and 40 miles deep in places


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    The Black Canyon fire lights up the night sky in Washington. Emergency co-ordinators want people who can operate heavy equipment to bulldoze fire lines to prevent them from spreading further



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    Timber burns in the First Creek fire near lakeside buildings on the western shore of Lake Chelan last week. Across the United States, a total of 11,600 square miles have been scorched by wildfires - the worst since 1960



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    In Okanogan County, pictured, the fire has spread by more than 100 square miles in one day as firefighters battle for control

    The 70 firefighters from Australia and New Zealand who arrived at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, were being outfitted to fill a critical shortage of mid-level fire managers such as equipment bosses, strike team leaders and supervisors.
    Australia and New Zealand have been partners with the US for more than 50 years and are able to lend out firefighters because the severest part of their fire seasons occur at opposite times of the year.
    Chris Arnol, international liaison for Australia and New Zealand firefighters, said at a news conference in Boise that they will be ready for the mountainous terrain in the Pacific Northwest.
    Warren Heslip, a 47-year-old firefighter from Southland, New Zealand, said: 'We're used to tall timber and steep territory.'
    Meanwhile in Southern California, crews used snow-making cannons to blow water, while planes dropped fire retardant on a 100-acre wildfire burning near the popular Snow Summit ski resort in Big Bear Lake. They were able to build a perimeter halfway around the blaze but hundreds of homes remained threatened in the mountainous area about 100 miles east of Los Angeles.


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    Steve Surgeon (pictured) estimates he lost more than $100,000 worth of property, including his shop, his motorcycle, several cars, a travel trailer, and all of his tools in a wildfire on the outskirts of Okanogan. Miraculously, the flames missed his house



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    Surgeon said the fire raced over a ridge and barreled down toward his home - the flames lapping just feet from his back porch


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    This image taken from space showed the amount of smoke driving around Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana last week (you can see my fire in this pic)

    They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.
    “As a general rule, the earlier you recognize someone is trying to kill you, the better off you’ll be.”

    "You think a wall as solid as the earth separates civilisation from barbarism. I tell you the division is a sheet of glass."



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    There Aren’t Enough Firefighters to Stop America’s West From Burning

    http://www.bloomberg.com/features/20...merican-west/?

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    I've got several wildfires within a 10 mile radius of my home. Luckily, none are threatening us at this time. We're keeping our fingers crossed.
    "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. ...those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
    C.S. Lewis



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    They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.
    “As a general rule, the earlier you recognize someone is trying to kill you, the better off you’ll be.”

    "You think a wall as solid as the earth separates civilisation from barbarism. I tell you the division is a sheet of glass."



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    The Federal government unconstitutional owns the majority of the land on the west coast and does a horrible job managing It. That's why we have all these fires!!---

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    Looking across Lake Chelan. Picture by a friend.

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    AP Interactive ‏@AP_Interactive 27m27 minutes ago
    AP GRAPHIC: The burning #wildfire in Washington state is larger than most major U.S. cities:


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    Washington state is being consumed by a 'slow-motion disaster'

    http://www.businessinsider.com/slow-...n-state-2015-8

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