LINDA ASHTON
Associated Press Writer
LEAVENWORTH, Wash. (AP) -- The threat of gusty wind fanned fears of wildfire Saturday in this Cascade mountain tourist town, where flames have already gobbled more than 5,000 acres and could threaten nearly 2,000 homes and businesses.
It was just one of eight major fires in drought-stricken Washington state, where more than 80,000 acres had been burned across the state's arid east side in the past week.
Fire engines from around the state converged on the community to protect it from the so-called Icicle complex of more than 20 fires.
``This is the number one priority fire in the region because of all the houses,'' said fire information officer Greg Thayer with the Wenatchee National Forest.
Across the West, 26,000 firefighters were at work Saturday battling 30 major fires that had blackened 504,044 acres, said the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise. No serious injuries have been reported so far. Last month, four Eastern Washington firefighters were killed in a different round of blazes.
Oregon had 12 major wildfires, two of them new, on 232,000 acres. Homes were threatened in Monument, Ukiah and Dale.
In northern Nevada, weary firefighters faced a new fire that had burned 13,000 acres by Saturday morning.
Fifty homes had been evacuated in Leavenworth since the middle of the week, about 30 of them Friday night, when the wind-driven fires raced across an additional 1,000 to 1,500 acres. Residents of 200 homes were warned that they might have to leave.
The flames had covered more than 5,000 acres by Saturday, Thayer said.
No homes had been destroyed but fire crews were putting out small fires around five houses on Eight Mile Road.
``For once, we got a fire along a road where we can drive a fire engine in and squirt water on it,'' Thayer said.
Three of the five homes had been wet down and brush had been cleared near them, but no such care was taken with the other two. ``It's a miracle that they're there,'' Thayer said.
Weather conditions improved somewhat Saturday, with temperatures dropping from the 90s to the 80s and humidity increasing. Wind blowing at 15 to 20 mph was forecast, with gusts up to 35 mph.
``Near Leavenworth the winds should be a little weaker than that,'' said National Weather Service forecaster Jon Fox. However, he cautioned that ``even 10- to 20-mile winds can spread fire pretty rapidly.''
Rain and temperatures in the 70s were expected Tuesday, which will ``help squash those things,'' Fox said.
The threat didn't slow down Loren Haskins of Northfield, Minn., who continued helping his daughter and son-in-law build a new home in Leavenworth even though residents of their area had been told to be prepared for evacuation.
``We're very optimistic. We just keep building,'' he said. ``If it's going to burn down, it will just be a little more or a little less.''
Fire trucks were stationed outside the HomeFires Bakery just south of town.
``I'm not nervous enough to run away, but I'm nervous enough to be concerned and grateful for the firefighters,'' said Theresa D-Litzenberger, who has operated the bakery with husband Richard for 16 years.
``We're just trying to bake bread and carry on,'' Richard D-Litzenberger said.
They had to evacuate in 1994, Washington's last bad fire season, and were prepared to leave again quickly with their business records and their cat and dog.
``The thing is, it happened seven years ago so it doesn't seem as it might to others,'' he said. ``We're not panicked.''
