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TWISP, Wash. (AP) -- A small wildfire in the rugged forest of the North
Cascades exploded to 2,500 acres in a matter of hours, killing four
firefighters and injuring four others, one seriously.
A rise in temperature and wind gusts fueled an explosive burst of flames
that overran a group of 40 firefighters Tuesday evening, U.S. Forest Service
spokeswoman Debbie Kelly said.
The names of the dead and wounded were not immediately released.
Six hundred firefighters were expected to arrive Wednesday to battle the
blaze about 20 miles north of this resort town and 140 miles northeast of
Seattle, said Shannon O'Brien, a spokeswoman for the Wenatchee-Okanogan
National Forest.
It was one of the deadliest wildfires since 14 firefighters were killed
after being engulfed by flames near Glenwood Springs, Colo., in 1994.
The blaze grew from less than 10 acres early Tuesday to 2,500 acres by early
evening, Kelly said.
Low humidity and dry underbrush made conditions in steep, heavily forested
terrain of north-central Washington especially dangerous, Kelly said. She
said the crews thought they had the situation well in hand until the wind
picked up and the fire began spreading fast.
``It's a very intense fire due to the dryness of the weather and the
fuels,'' Kelly said. ``It's so dry it's going very quickly. We're getting
weather and fuel conditions that we normally get in August.''
Some of the firefighters took shelter in foil-like emergency tents designed
to protect them from heat and flames, she said.
One firefighter, identified as a 21-year-old from Yakima, was flown to a
Seattle hospital with severe burns and was in serious condition early
Wednesday. Three others were taken to other hospitals with burns or smoke
inhalation.
A search party sent out when at least two firefighters couldn't be reached
by radio after the flare-up found the dead firefighters. A national
investigative team was flying to the scene.
The wildfire near Twisp was one of at least three burning on the eastern
side of the Cascade Range. Another wildfire burning about 10 miles to the
south, near Carlton, grew to 1,200 acres Tuesday night, officials said. A
third fire had burned at least 70 acres near Grand Coulee Dam.
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