Many firefighters have seen Kari Greer on firelines in the western United States. She is a NIFC contract photographer with a Red Card which enables her to take assignments where she shadows firefighters as they work. These photos were taken within the last few weeks on fires near Lake Chelan, Washington. You can see more of the photos she has taken this summer here.
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.
“This is not an emergency for us. This is what we do”.
(Deputy Incident Commander Rob Allen during a Wednesday morning briefing to firefighters, emphasizing that they should not feel pressure to take unnecessary chances performing what is to them routine work for which they have spent years accumulating skills and experience.)
The above quote can be heard in the brief video below.
All of the fires comprising the Chelan Complex of Fires grew on Tuesday, adding about 6,000 acres to what became a total of 69,445 acres burned. The Black Canyon and McFarland Fires burned together (see map below) while expanding on almost all the length of their perimeters. The First Creek and Antoine Fires both spread on their northwest sides.
Evacuations are still in place for approximately 2,900 residents in the greater Chelan area.
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(UPDATED at 3:04 p.m. PT, August 18, 2015)
Monday night the assessors office confirmed that 35 residences and 21 outbuildings have been destroyed in the fire near Chelan, Washington. The surveys are not complete and those numbers could be revised upward in the next few days.
The Sheriff’s office is increasing the patrols in evacuated areas, hoping to stop the looting has been reported in the temporarily vacant homes.