By The Associated Press
TWISP, Okanogan County —
Fire crews battling a blaze in central Washington were encouraged that fire lines seemed to be holding despite strong winds.
Winds pushed the flames on Saturday toward unburned areas inside the fire’s perimeter, said Nick Mickel, a spokesman for fire crews.
“We’ve had some pretty strong winds along the fire lines, so we have disengaged from some places,” Mickel said.
“Maybe the fire activity isn’t increasing, but we’ve had some limbs and trees go down. For the sake of firefighter safety, we’re pulling some of them off the lines until the winds calm down.”
The Okanogan Complex of wildfires has burned about 475 square miles. It is only 12 percent contained.
Officials say the fire has destroyed at least 45 primary residences, 49 cabins and 60 outbuildings.
Meanwhile, a firefighter injured battling a blaze in central Washington has been upgraded from critical to serious condition.
Daniel Lyon, 25, is alert and breathing on his own, a spokeswoman for Harborview Medical Center said Saturday. He has undergone two successful burn surgeries, and more are planned. He remains in intensive care.
Lyon had burns on more than 60 percent of his body.
He was one of four firefighters injured when flames overtook them on Aug. 19. The other three injured firefighters have been treated and released.
Oregon blaze
A human-caused fire broke out at a state park campground in central Oregon and quickly grew to 200 acres Saturday, destroying two homes and several outbuildings.
An Oregon State Police fire investigator will look into the specific cause of the blaze, which began at Cove Palisades State Park north of Bend, the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center said.
About 60 people were evacuated from a small subdivision west of Culver. Firefighters were challenged by strong winds, steep slopes and dry fuels.
To the east, firefighters battling a massive wildfire briefly evacuated the southern half of the town of Prairie City and surrounding areas after strong winds pushed flames closer to the town of about 900 people.
The fire made one run off the mountains into the grasslands and burned “a finger” that came within 1.5 miles of Prairie City, said Vince Mazzier, a spokesman for the firefighting team.
Crews were quickly redeployed to strengthen lines in the area, and residents were allowed to return an hour later.
“The crews hit it hard, and they stayed with it,” said Kelsey Dehoney, a spokeswoman also working with firefighting crews. “They did a really good job and managed to get it knocked down.”
However, officials said flames consumed another home Friday afternoon, bringing to 40 the number of homes destroyed by that fire.
