Thousands under evacuation orders and some homes burn as wildfires race through Washington state
Source: AP
Updated 11:17 PM EDT, August 18, 2023
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Fast-moving wildfires raced through Washington state on Friday, burning some homes and prompting evacuation orders for thousands of people in small rural communities.
One of the largest blazes, the so-called Gray Fire near Spokane in eastern Washington, began around noon and a few hours later had surged through 4.7 square miles (12 square kilometers) of grass, timber and wheat, pushed by 35-mph (56-kph) winds, according to the Washington State Department of Natural Resources.
Level 3, or “Go Now,” evacuations were issued for Medical Lake, a community of about 4,800 people and some homes and other buildings had burned, authorities said, although it wasn’t clear how many.
National Guard troops were called in to help evacuate patients and staff from Eastern State Hospital, a 367-bed psychiatric facility in Medical Lake.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/washington-medical-lake-wildfire-905a0bbd2e0f48c200d670be10fad0bc
I was wondering... If you have Canadian provinces just above this area burning, then...
= new reply since forum marked as read
says none of it matters because our economy is so dependent on fossil fuels that there's no point in changing anything, because economic growth is the priority no matter what. Fox Business is all he watches.
That's how these fools think.
He is reasonably clever and responsible but catastrophically ignorant and "low information." Gets his information off fecesbook and fox business channel. High school education if that. Higher education doesn't mean you aren't an idiot but generally IME does mean more exposure to a variety of ideas and more ability to analyze and critically assess information. I have learned a lot from conversing with him, because doing so helps me understand how a subset of the public continues to support red don.
He has classic red don voter beliefs and a ready answer to everything, unmoored from reality. Hardheaded and stubborn. Won't admit that he might be misled or drawing conclusions based on incomplete information. E.g., thinks (just a small sample):
--all of the indictments are "nothing, just like the Russia hoax." When I explained that in fact there was ample evidence that Russia helped install red don in the White House, his response was that "lots of foreign countries interfere in American elections, so nothing different there." 
Had no idea what a troll farm was, what Paul Manafort's history was, or that Russia participated in specific, targeted ways solely to help red don.
--trump was not responsible for the violence on Jan. 6 because he said "be peaceful." I replied "yeah, once, but he made many other statements that encourage force and violence." Made no impression.
--this country is in no danger of going fascist because "even though trump talks like that, the courts and Congress will stop him."
--he will vote for red don no matter what because "the stock market did better under him than Biden, and growth is all that matters."
Because there is no reasoning with him, I simply tell him that he's an ignorant fool who is contributing to the downfall of American democracy. Don't worry, I'm not hurting his feelings--he is so obstinate and sure he's right about everything that my remarks make no impact.
Wonder if we could find another planet to burn up in time to save the human race.....
I'm from Canada, raised in West Vancouver, and even though I live in the States (Hawaii now) I still feel like beautiful B.C. is my home.
I sure hope there are no more lives lost.
All my thoughts are with all of you going through this right now, and hoping it will die down.
what Pandr32 is saying - may you and your daughters stay safe.
and hoping your area will escape the fires and your daughters can remain safe!
The smoke hazards are a whole other thing that will be difficult to deal with and shift with the whim of the jetstream and wind currents ). I have 2 big HEPA air purifiers that I run 24/7 normally and they came in handy when the smoke came down as far as here in Philly - first from Alberta, and then a later batch from Quebec.
I'll update again later. Right now I am going to concentrate on my Scotch and some tunes. Phone has been making noise all day but I can't toss it in the back yard like I now want so....Scotch.
Evacuations in place as 3 wildfires burn in eastern Washington state
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wildfires-eastern-washington-state/story?id=102394470
One person has been confirmed dead in the largest blaze.
By Meredith Deliso August 19, 2023, 12:56 PM
Evacuations are in place as three wildfires burn in eastern Washington state, officials said.
The largest of the blazes -- known as the Gray Fire, located in and around Medical Lake in Spokane County -- has burned approximately 9,500 acres and is 0% contained, according to the Washington State Department of Natural Resources.
One person has been confirmed dead in the fire, the agency said. No additional details were available.
PHOTO: In this screen grab from a video, the Gray Fire burns near Spokane, Wash., on Aug. 19, 2023.
In this screen grab from a video, the Gray Fire burns near Spokane, Wash., on Aug. 19, 2023.
Spokane Co. FD8 Firefighters
The fire spread rapidly after igniting on Friday amid high temperatures, authorities said. Hundreds of firefighters "engaged in a very active fire fight" overnight, Spokane County Fire Chief Cody Rohrbach said during a press briefing Saturday.
As of Saturday morning, 185 houses and outbuildings have burned in the fire, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources said, noting that there currently is "problematic weather" for firefighting........................