Wildfires force new evacuation orders in Washington state

SEATTLE, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Emergency officials extended
evacuation orders to two more towns threatened by a deadly array
of wildfires in north-central Washington state as dozens of
blazes swirled across the drought-parched Pacific Northwest and
surrounding regions.
President Barack Obama signed a federal declaration of
emergency for Washington state on Friday, authorizing the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency
Management Agency to coordinate relief efforts in 11 counties
and several Indian reservations hard hit by wildfires.
Authorities late on Thursday ordered the population of
Tonasket, a riverfront hamlet of about 1,000 residents just 25
miles south of the Canadian border, to flee their homes as
flames closed in.
About 25 miles farther south along the same river, emergency
officials early on Friday issued additional evacuation orders
for parts of Okanogan, a larger town at the western edge of the
Colville Indian Reservation, urging evacuees in a Facebook (NASDAQ:FB)
posting "not to wait for door-to-door notification."
Both communities were in the path of flames from an array of
wildfires dubbed the Okanogan Complex, which has doubled in size
since Thursday to scorch some 161,000 acres of brush and dry
timber about 115 miles (185 km) northeast of Seattle.
The Okanogan Complex includes the so-called Twisp River
fire, which killed three firefighters on Wednesday night after
forcing the evacuation of some 4,000 households in the towns of
Twisp and Winthrop about 30 miles west of Okanogan in the
foothills of the Cascades.
At least 70 large wildfires or clusters of fires have raged
this week through several bone-dry Western states, the bulk of
them in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California and Montana, the
National Interagency Fire Center in Boise reported.
The blazes, under attack by more than 30,000 firefighters
and support personnel, have collectively charred more than 1
million acres of land across the region.
Fire-suppression costs in the Pacific Northwest alone are
estimated to have exceeded $115 million to date, according to
the fire center.
With manpower and other resources stretched thin, fire
managers have turned to the U.S. military and even personnel
from Canada, Australia and New Zealand to furnish
reinforcements.
So far this year, U.S. wildland blazes have claimed the
lives of at least 13 firefighters, four more than died in the
line of duty during all of 2014, the fire center said.
Earlier this week, the governors of Oregon and Idaho joined
Washington state in calling up state National Guard troops
backed by military aircraft to help combat blazes.
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