SPOKANE, Wash. \u2014 The massive fires burning in Washington state are a “slow-motion disaster,” Gov. Jay Inslee said Thursday as he praised crews battling the blazes that have burned an area nearly the size of Rhode Island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inslee spoke in Chelan before travelling to meet firefighters on the lines that he said were exhausted but committed to stop the blazes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“They know they’re in danger and this danger is persistent,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dense smoke from the big fires burning east of the Cascade Range grounded helicopters and airplanes that had been aiding fire crews in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was also causing respiratory problems for people far from the fire lines. In Spokane County, which has nearly 500,000 residents, the air quality was deemed unhealthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Crews battling a 262-square mile blaze near the town of Republic, south of the Canadian border, also were dealing with smoke as well as flames, fire spokesman Donnie Davis said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Everybody up here is rubbing their eyes,” he said. “It’s brutal.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
A wildfire about 70 miles southwest in Okanogan \u2014 the largest blaze ever recorded in the state \u2014 grew to nearly 438 square miles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We’re still socked in,” fire spokesman Rick Isaacson said. “There’s maybe one mile of visibility.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inslee said the fires were more spread out across the state than last year and had burned about 1,144 square miles \u2014 an area nearly the size of Rhode Island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This is not just a local fire, it’s a statewide slow-motion disaster,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maj. Gen. Bret Daugherty, who commands the Washington National Guard, was travelling with Inslee. He said there were about 1,000 Guard troops helping firefighting efforts, including 200 on the fire lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
So far, officials have counted 40 homes and 40 outbuildings destroyed by the Okanogan blaze. The fire is about 17 percent contained by more than 1,300 firefighters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A forecast calling for highs in the 70s and rain in the next few days was good news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It is looking better for us,” Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several Western states are seeing a severe fire season with some 11,600 square miles scorched so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“You can imagine how stretched thin everybody is,” said Dan Dallas, deputy incident commander of the Okanogan fire. “We’re all working without the resources that in a normal year \u2014 which I don’t think there is such a thing anymore \u2014 that we might have.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Oregon Military Department said soldiers also were ready to help battle a wildfire that has destroyed more than three dozen homes near John Day, about 150 miles east of Portland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fires also were burning in California, Montana and Idaho.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This story has been corrected to reflect that there are roughly 500,000 people in Spokane County. Geranios reported from Spokane, Washington. Associated Press photographer Ted Warren contributed from Republic, Washington.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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