Storms provide relief for crews fighting wildfires; hot, dry weather to return

Officials say the massive wildfire that has destroyed about 150 homes in north-central Washington is now more than half contained.

The storms forecasted Wednesday provided both relief, and didn’t cause predicted damage, officials say. Rain and cooler temperatures helped fire crews increase containment of the fires including the Carlton Complex wildfire, the largest in the state’s history.

The complex was reported to be 52 percent contained as of Wednesday night, up from 16 percent earlier in the day.

The moisture wasn’t enough to extinguish the nearly 400-square-mile fire area, but it gave crews a chance to dig lines along the south and east parts of the fire.

The storms were part of a broader swath of storms that extended from southeast Washington into the fire zones of Central Washington and northward toward the Canadian border.

The thunderstorms also produced more than 20,000 lightning strikes that resulted in at least eight new small fires in Washington, and 25 in Oregon, according to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center in Portland.

Officials had also warned that the rains could cause flash floods in the areas scarred by wildfires in Chelan and Okanogan counties.

A spokesperson on the Chelan County Emergency Management Facebook page said Wednesday night, “I’m very thankful that the horrible rain they worried about didn’t come in and do the damage that they thought it might. I do hope the rain we got gave everything a good soak and slowed the fires down a bit…and that the cooler weather gave the firefighters a bit of a break.”

U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell said Wednesday that the hot windy weather known as “red flag” days have not lined up with the lighting strikes that start most fires this season, nationwide.

Dry, hot weather is expected to return to the state over the weekend.