Two massive, out-of-control wildfires near Omak, Wash., may be responsible for some of the smoke that blanketed B.C.’s Southern Interior on Tuesday.
The Cold Springs fire started Sunday night, just before 10 p.m., and has burned 65,000 hectares (162,000 acres) and growing.
Officials say in the last day, the fire has claimed numerous structures, as it jumped the Columbia River and joined the 70,000-hectare (174,000 acres) Pearl Hill fire.
The Pearl Hill fire was discovered early Monday and is also zero per cent contained.
By comparison, the Palmer fire near Oroville is listed at 7,279 hectares (17,988 acres), while the Christie Mountain wildfire is sized at 2,122.5 hectares (858 acres).
Omak is about an hour’s drive south of Osoyoos, B.C.
The Cold Springs fire covers a north-to-south distance of around 88 kilometres, and embers from that fire have led to other fires.
For example, a shuttered plywood mill burned to the ground, with Okanogan County emergency management officials saying the fire was sparked by the Cold Springs wildfire.
Evacuation orders are in place for the wildfire, which has also shut down Highway 97 north of Omak and Highway 155 to the east. Approximately 200 firefighters are battling the blaze.
On Tuesday, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said 330,000 acres in the state had burned in a 24-hour span.
“Please heed them,” Inslee said Tuesday regarding evacuation orders.
“These fires are extraordinary. They are doing things we’ve never seen before as to how fast they spread.”
In related news, a small town south of Spokane was devastated by a swift-moving wildfire during the Labour Day weekend.
Officials estimate that 80 per cent of homes and businesses community of Malden were razed, including city hall and the fire station.
About 200 people called Malden home. The county’s sheriff says the scale of the disaster can’t be expressed in words.
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