Okanogan complex largest fire in Washington history

Okanogan Complex
Okanogan Complex. Fire perimeter as of Aug. 24, 2015.

The Okanogan complex fires have grown into the largest wildfire in Washington history at more than 256,567 acres, surpassing last year’s record-setting Carlton complex fires, which burned 256,108 acres.

The complex is now made up of what were five fires — the Twisp River fire, the Lime Belt fire, the Beaver Lake fire, the Blue Lake fire and the Tunk Block fire. The Lime Belt, Beaver Lake and Blue Lake fires have merged, according to the latest perimeter information from the U.S. Forest Service.

The two main branches of the fire — the merged Lime Belt fires and the Tunk Block fire — have burned more than 100,000 acres each.

The latest perimeter maps for the complex, taken from infrared data on Aug. 24, do not include the Twisp fire.

As of Aug. 24, more than 500 utility customers remain without power in Okanogan County, since the fire complex has destroyed more than 500 utility poles, according to the Okanogan County Public Utility District. It will take a week to restore power to some areas, while it could take a few weeks to restore power to others.

The Chelan complex fires (see below) also continued to rage south of the Okanogan complex. Infrared flights on Aug. 24 showed that the fire had grown 509 acres, expanding the fire perimeter to 87,830 acres.

Overall, the fire’s heat has dropped, particularly in the perimeter’s southern and eastern quadrants (highlighted blue area on the map). These quadrants were not scanned by IR flights on Aug. 24, since there has been little heat in those areas for several nights, according to flight information.

Chelan Complex fire perimeter as of Aug. 24, 2015.
Chelan complex fire perimeter as of Aug. 24, 2015.

Army soldiers in Washington get their first fireline assignment

army soldiers Onata Fire
Captain Tran Sugai (second from right) briefs his platoon leaders as three crews of the Army’s Task Force First Round prepared to spend their first day on an active fire.

Tom Story, who is in Washington documenting some of the wildfire activity, has been spending time with some of the 200 soldiers that were trained last week to assist on the fires. These are his photos, and below is his report.

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Three crews from the freshly fire-trained Army Task Force First Round, from Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Washington, made their first trip to the fireline August 24, 2015 when they traveled north of the Kaniksu Complex’s Tower Fire in eastern Washington to the 300-acre Onata Fire. The Incident Management Team welcomed the additional help and gave the soldiers two tasks for the day: put in some hand line and help plumb, or install fire hose, on the bottom edge of the fire along a road the team wanted to use to halt the fire’s spread.

Like most things in fire, the plans changed on the scene and the hand line assignment was cancelled and the crews were put to work putting in a 1,500 foot hose lay in preparation for a burnout. Not only did the crew haul and lay a bunch of hose, they tied in with the Forest Service’s McKenzie River Hand Crew who were doing chain saw work, prepping for the burnout, lending a hand with swamping the cut material.

army soldiers Onata Fire
Part of the Army’s assignment on the Onata Fire was to assist putting in a hose lay as part of preparation for a planned burnout. Robert “Hippie” Horn (left) of North Dakota Forest Service hands rolls of hose to soldiers to distribute along a road.
army soldiers Onata Fire
Members of the Army’s Task Force First Round swamp behind the McKenzie River Hand Crew’s Sawyers in prep for a future burnout operation.
army soldiers Onata Fire
Following the sawyers of the McKenzie River Hand Crew, Penn Woolridge and other crew members move the cut material across the road and onto the green side of the planned burnout area.

Military to attack the Tower Fire

Soldier training
Jay Karle, center right, a wildland firefighter assigned to assist Soldiers of 5th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, 17th Field Artillery Brigade, points out boundaries to be used during wildland firefighting training near Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Aug. 20, 2015. The “First Round” Soldiers have been activated to help suppress fires in the Pacific Northwest due to civilian resources running low. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Porch, 28th Public Affairs Detachment.)

Approximately 200 U.S. Army‬ Soldiers assigned to the 5th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, 17th Field Artillery Brigade, 7th Infantry Division, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Washington have been activated to assist in the suppression of wildfires during a period when over 32,000 regular wildland firefighters are deployed but still more help is needed.

The Soldiers were trained at their base by wildland fire agency personnel, including the Bureau of Land Management Vegas Valley Crew comprised entirely of military veterans. They arrived at the Tower Fire in western Washington near the Idaho border late in the afternoon on August 22, where Tom Story captured some images.

Members of the Army's Task Force First Round are briefed on the layout of the Incident Command Post after arriving at the Tower Fire, near Newport, Washington August 22, 2015. With more than 17 major fires burning in Washington alone, the 200 soldiers along with support personnel underwent fire suppression training prior to traveling from their home at Joint Base Lewis-McChord to assist in containing the blaze.
Members of the Army’s Task Force First Round are briefed on the layout of the Incident Command Post after arriving at the Tower Fire, near Newport, Washington August 22, 2015. Photo by Tom Story.
After a briefing on the layout of the Tower Fire Incident Command Post, The Army's Task Force First Round joined the other firefighters in the dinner line. The Saturday evening meal was pasta with sausage meat sauce, veggies, salad and garlic bread.
After a briefing on the layout of the Tower Fire Incident Command Post, The Army’s Task Force First Round joined the other firefighters in the dinner line. The Saturday evening meal was pasta with sausage meat sauce, veggies, salad and garlic bread. Photo by Tom Story.

Washington state asks for volunteers to fight wildfires

Washington DNR volunteer signup

Illustrating the severity of the wildfires and the shortage of firefighters in the northwest, for the first time ever the state of Washington is asking for volunteers to help suppress the 12 uncontained large fires currently burning in the state. Five of those fires are “complexes” that are comprised of many fires, sometimes more than 10.

At first the Department of Natural Resources was asking for anyone who could operate heavy equipment, such as a dozer or grader, who would then be given specific wildfire training. But now the DNR is only accepting volunteer applications from:

…from those with wildland firefighting qualifications, including an Incident Qualification Card (commonly called a Red Card), a “Blue Card,” or a letter of certification from a local or rural firefighting agency stating that you have met appropriate physical fitness, experience and training standards for serving on wildfire incidents.

Please complete our online intake form by listing your qualifications and contact information to volunteer with our temporary community resource coordination centers in Colville, Omak and Castle Rock.

The DNR has set up centers at three locations to talk to potential volunteers:

Omak:  Jay Guthrie
Omak City Hall
2 Ash St. N
Phone 509-826-2546

Colville:  Julie Sacket
Washington State Department of Transportation
Second Floor
440 N Hwy 395
Phone 509-675-7847

Castle Rock: Kellie Williams
601 Bond Rd.
Castle Rock, WA 98611
Phone 360-575-5024

A “fly-through” of the wildfires in north-central Washington

This video created by Kenji Kato using Google Earth, is a “fly-through” showing heat data collected by a satellite for the Chelan Complex of Fires, the Okanogan Complex of Fires, and other fires in north-central Washington state. The fly-through starts above the U.S., then flies in on the Pacific Northwest, then Central Washington, before closing in on the fire areas. The icons represent heat detected by a satellite as late as 3:30 a.m. PDT on August 20, 2015.

The icon color is based on fire activity with red representing heat detected in the last 0-12 hours (at the time data was updated). Orange represents activity in the previous 12 to 24 hours, and yellow is data 1 to 6 days before.

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Firefighters killed in Twisp River Fire identified

The three U.S. Forest Service firefighters that were overrun by fire and killed on the Twisp River Fire in Washington August 19 have been identified as Tom Zbyszewki, 20, Andrew Zajac, 26 and Richard Wheeler, 31.

Their vehicle crashed while fighting a fire west of Twisp, Washington. Fox News reported “Authorities gave few details, shedding no light, for example, on the crash, other than to say that it was not the accident itself that killed the victims, but the fire.”

On Thursday, after a team of investigators assessed the accident site, the bodies of the three firefighters were removed in separate ambulances and transported from the scene in a procession of fire engines and other emergency vehicles.

Four other firefighters were injured, one very seriously. King5 had additional information about the serious injury:

Daniel Lyon, 25, of Puyallup [Washington], was airlifted to Harborview Wednesday in critical condition. Doctors say he suffered third degree burns to over 50 to 75 percent of his body.

Doctors said he was in the resuscitation phase, receiving a lot of fluids, and doctors were trying to stabilize his condition. If his condition improves, doctors hope to move him to the operation phase, where they will remove some of the burns from his body.

Lyon had only been a firefighter for a few months with the U.S. Forest Service before heading to Central Washington to battle the Okanogan Complex Fire.

Q13 reported that the other three injured firefighters were treated at a hospital and released.

The investigation into the accident is being conducted by a team led by John Phipps who currently serves as Station Director of the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station in Fort Collins, Colorado.