Snohomish County fire crews head to Eastern Washington
Published 8:35 am Monday, August 23, 2010
SULTAN — Almost two dozen Snohomish County firefighters have been deployed this weekend to battle wildfires raging in Eastern Washington.
The first team of firefighters was called on Friday morning to tackle a series of fires burning near Soap Lake in Grant County, said Getchell Fire Chief Travis Hots, who is the county’s state mobilizations coordinator. The firefighters were rerouted Saturday to a 40,000-acre blaze in Yakima and Benton counties.
“We were deployed to the fire line and have been fighting fire,” Hots said.
Another team left Sultan about 11 a.m. Saturday to fight a fast-moving fire in Okanogan County. The fire had already burned through 12,000 acres and swallowed several homes on Saturday evening, and it threatened other homes, Hots said.
“There is a large plume of smoke that can be seen for many, many miles,” he said.
Twenty-two firefighters and 10 pieces of equipment were deployed from fire districts in Getchell, Lake Stevens, Gold Bar, Monroe, North County Fire and EMS and Arlington Heights.
Lightning is likely to blame for the fires flaring up in Eastern Washington, Hots said. Hot, dry conditions coupled with lightning strikes have wreaked havoc in the region this summer.
Just a few weeks ago, about a dozen local firefighters were summoned to fight a blaze north of Chelan.
Firefighters from Snohomish County typically get deployed a handful of times each summer, Hots said. The calls go out when a local fire department has exhausted its resources.
