EDITOR’S NOTE: This has been corrected to say that that three firefighters who were killed were with the National Forest Service, not the state Department of Natural Resources.
FORKS — A state Department of Natural Resources firefighter from Forks who was injured near Twisp is recovering at his home.
Reed Callis declined to comment Thursday on the events of Aug. 19 beyond saying: “I’m recovering from the injuries I suffered. At this time, I’m not going to take any interviews.”
Callis also said Thursday he had not yet discussed the incident with his supervisors.
The DNR said Callis was hospitalized overnight after the incident and released Aug. 20, but the agency provided no further details.
“We’re not providing any additional detail about our firefighters at this time so that they are able to focus on their recovery,” Carrie McCausland, DNR’s deputy communications director, said Wednesday.
Three National Forest Service wildland firefighters died in a truck that was overtaken by flames in the fire near Twisp known as the Okanogan Complex Fire.
Memorial services are scheduled Sunday for Tom Zbyszewski, 20; Andrew Zajac, 26; and Richard Wheeler, 31.
Four other firefighters were injured as they tried to escape on foot. Three, which includes Callis, are with DNR; all were hospitalized overnight and are now recovering, according to Donna Nemeth, forest service spokeswoman.
The fourth, Daniel Lyon, 25, who is a forest service firefighter, remains in critical condition with burns over 60 percent of his body.
More than 1,774 fire personnel from 33 states were battling the wildland fire Thursday or were supporting firefighters.
The complex fire includes the remnants of the 11,130-acre Twisp Fire in the Methow Valley, which officials said had been 85 percent contained.
It also includes the Tunk Block Fire in the Aeneas Valley, 149,649 acres, 15 percent contained; the Lime Belt/Blue Lake and Beaver Lake fires, burning toward Loomis, 122,205 acres, 20 percent contained; and the Nine Mile Fire, 4,720 acres, 95 percent contained in what officials called “patrol status.”
All but the Twisp and Nine Mile fires were expected to spread over the next 72 hours.
Overall, the Okanogan Complex Fire covered 280,267 acres and was 17 percent contained as of Thursday afternoon.
Possible dry thunderstorms were forecast around in the region, with winds increasing and gusting up to 20 mph and temperatures from 70 to 85 degrees with 16 percent to 28 percent relative humidity.
