Washington hillsides bursting into flames as wildfires continue to spread

Authorities issued a mandatory evacuation order for the north-central Washington town of Tonasket as wildfires fanned by high winds raged out of control.

The Okanogan County Emergency Management department issued the order for the town of 1,000 people Thursday evening. Residents were told a shelter was open at Brewster High School.

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Officials had warned that winds topping 40 miles per hour would complicate efforts firefighting efforts Thursday and that the blazes would almost certainly spread.

More black smoke could be seen on the horizon near Twisp Thursday evening while winds continued to pick up in Central Washington, according to KIRO Radio reporter Josh Kerns.

One family with well-known ties to Seattle was grateful for all the efforts of the firefighters. Ken Shannon, a former University of Washington track coach, has a home in the area that was being threatened by the fires. Luckily Tim, Shannon’s son and Seattle firefighter, was at his home visiting while Shannon recovers from surgery.

“It was just nuts,” Tim told Kerns. “But the forest firefighters got here in time to do a back burn.”

It was a close call.

“It was coming fast,” Tim said.

There are at least 16 large fires throughout Washington. Those have burned approximately 390,000 acres.

The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for the eastern portion of the state through 5 p.m. Friday. Officials said temperatures will climb above 90 degrees and relative humidity will drop as low as 14 percent.

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Governor Jay Inslee said although the fires are still blazing, it is not obscuring firefighters’ acts of courage. There are more than 3,000 firefighters stepping into harms way, he said at a media briefing in Chelan on Thursday.

“This is an unprecedented cataclysm in our state,” he said. “There are 390,000 acres burning, last year was bad with 250,000 acres.”

Crews are making sure the Evergreen State doesn’t become the “Ever-fire State,” Inslee said.

The governor is requesting a federal emergency declaration to provide more help to pay for fighting the many wildfires burning in Washington state.

Inslee’s request was sent to President Barack Obama through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. It says that 11 counties and four tribes are affected or threatened by fires.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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