SPOKANE — Winds gusting to 50 mph pushed a 1,200-acre wildfire that burned at least four homes in a heavily wooded part of the suburban Spokane Valley on Thursday evening, and residents of a wide area were told to leave their homes.
The fast-moving flames burned at least four homes, the Spokesman-Review reported. The heavy smoke and tree cover made it difficult to assess the damage over nearly two square miles.
There were no reports of injuries, and the cause of the fire that was reported Thursday afternoon was not immediately known. Winds and temperatures were dropping Thursday night, which aided firefighters.
Gov. Chris Gregoire was flying to Spokane, spokesman Pearse Edwards confirmed Thursday night.
Many people stayed near their homes as the flames approached.
“It’s a fact of life living in Washington state,” a man identified only as Joe told KHQ-TV.
Wildfires were also reported burning in Ferry, Lincoln, Stevens and Pend Oreille counties in northeast Washington.
Wildfires elsewhere in Eastern Washington advanced across rough terrain, burning nearly nine square miles.
Flames and heavy smoke could be seen just a few yards from the lawns of luxury homes in the Dishman Hills, a wooded, natural area on the east edge of Spokane.
At least six homes were threatened, said Bill Clifford, a spokesman for the Spokane Valley Fire Department.
The Red Cross set up an evacuation center at University High School in the Spokane Valley.
Meanwhile, thousands of homes were without electricity in the Spokane area and near Colville in northeast Washington, Avista Corp. reported Thursday. Dozens of fires in the Colville area were sparked by downed power lines.
Near Tonasket, just south of the U.S.-Canada border, firefighters were battling steep terrain, rattlesnakes and winds gusting to 30 mph, said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Robin DeMario.
Evacuation orders were lifted for eight homes there late Thursday, but residents of another 11 homes remained on notice they might have to flee the Cayuse Fire, which has burned at least 1,000 acres. No structures have burned.
Residents of more than three dozen condominiums and homes waited and watched as another fire pushed toward a golf course near the town of Orondo, about 20 miles north of Wenatchee.
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