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 The Carlton Complex fire burning east of the Cascade Mountains and
120 miles (190 km) northeast of Seattle, was 16 percent contained on
Tuesday, more than a week after it was sparked by lightning,
officials said.
The massive blaze charred 243,000 acres, or 380 square miles (980
square km), the largest fire in the state's history, according to
Larry Weaver, a spokesman for agencies working to contain the blaze.
"There's increased progress," Weaver said. "We are very cognizant of
weather changes, and the fire is still a dangerous active fire."
About 18 wildfires are currently burning across the Pacific
Northwest, many triggered by lightning and expanding rapidly amid
dry conditions in parts of California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho.
President Barack Obama, who came to Seattle on a fundraising trip,
offered the support of the U.S. government to help support those
affected by the blazes.
"Obviously these are very difficult fires," Obama said at his first
fundraiser of the evening. He said the federal government was
authorizing an emergency declaration on electrical power for the
affected areas.
Obama said drought, changing precipitation patterns, and climate
change were fueling more and more forest fires every year.
"The trend lines indicate the potential for increased forest fires.
We've seen the budget for forest fires jump at an extraordinary pace
over the last several years, so much so that we're going to have to
call on Congress to change how we fund forest fires," he said.
The Carlton Complex fire has been a special concern to emergency
officials because of its proximity to towns and cities in
Washington's Methow Valley, home to about 10,000 people.
More than 2,000 firefighters, backed by air support, were building
containment lines, aided by dropping temperatures and low wind. Rain
is forecast for Wednesday, but the lightning it could bring raised
concerns.
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Even as evacuation notices were downgraded or dropped in some areas,
new recommendations were put into place late on Monday for about 100
residents in the community of Carlton.
Residents of rural areas including Pleasant Valley and Leader Lake,
Alpine Lake, and White Rock Road were also urged to leave.
Emergency crews, which were continuing to assess damage, said about
200 homes had been lost. More than 1,200 homes and dwellings were
evacuated at the height of the blaze.
The fire was also blamed for one fatality, a 67-year-old man who
died on Saturday while trying to protect his home.
Dozens of power lines were destroyed across the region, leaving
electricity and communication inconsistent or down in some areas,
according to the Okanogan County Sheriff's Office.
The Carlton blaze was still smaller than the Buzzard Complex fire
raging in neighboring Oregon. At 395,000 acres (160,000 hectares)
and 85 percent containment, that fire was still considered extremely
dangerous and had caused smoke conditions in rural communities hours
away, according the Bureau of Land Management.
(Additional reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Eric Beech and Eric
Walsh)
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