By Savannah Hulsey Pointer
Contributing Writer
Sixty thousand people in Washington’s Spokane area have been evacuated as fires rage in the state’s eastern sector.
The fires have destroyed at least 600 homes, businesses, and structures as of Sunday, according to local authorities.
Light winds and low temperatures are expected to assist in efforts to fight the fires, which have burned more than 12 square miles in the Spokane area.
According to Courtney James, a spokesperson for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, as of Monday morning, the fires were still 0 percent contained.
Cpl. Mark Gregory, a spokesman for the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, said there were no major injuries or deaths reported, but authorities are searching for missing persons.
“Initially, we had approximately 290 missing person reports, and at this point we have cleared all except 14,” Gregory said. “These may not all be specifically associated with the Spokane Complex Fires.”
According to The Weather Channel, the outbreak has resulted in one of the most severe emergency responses in regional history and has burned more than 8,000 acres across Spokane County.
On Sunday evening, officials said evacuees have included patients at a Veterans Affairs hospital.
Investigators have not determined how the blazes started, and no rain is currently forecast.
“We are not out of danger,” U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said on Sunday. “The next couple of days will be challenging.”
The wildfire in the Spokane area is one of more than a dozen blazing across the Western United States. In Washington state alone, at least 390 square miles have burned, as federal, state and local agencies are stretched to the limit.
In Idaho, Oregon and Utah, crews are using bulldozers, helicopters and other resources to fight a fire that has burned almost 525 square miles. That area is home to cattle ranches, and authorities say the fire also threatens 600 homes and 800 other structures
In Central Utah, another blaze doubled in size over the weekend. By Monday morning, more than 57 square miles were burned, killing more than 100 head of cattle.
Officials called the fire “catastrophic,” with heavy winds pushing the flames over containment lines.
The fire was moving north toward a town of around 2,600 people in Millard County, and mandatory evacuations were ordered on Sunday evening.
The National Weather Service has issued air quality warnings across the northwest.
Red flag fire warnings were posted for parts of Utah, Montana, and western Nebraska. Extreme heat warnings were issued for the southern parts of Arizona, California, Nevada, and northern Montana.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
