Washingtonians

[ChristineR]

Anyone heard anything first hand about what's going on over in Cle Elum? A friend of a friend had to turn her horses loose - no time to get them out. I'm sure a lot of people are having to resort to that. I really feel for all the people losing their houses, livestock, pets, etc. I hope they'll be able to contain the fire soon.

 

[Greg Richardson]

Central Washington wildfire burns 40 homes
Next >>

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  Jordan Stead / Seattle Times
  John Shea leans into a gate, exhausted, as a forest fire consumes the grounds around a friend's ranch near Cle Elum on Monday. Shea heard the news, knew his friend was at work, and rushed over to his home to rescue livestock.​
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  Brian Myrick / Daily Record
  A firefighting helicopter operated by the Washington state Department of Natural Resources works to supress flames from the Taylor Bridge Fire east of Cle Elum on Monday.​
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  Brian Myrick / Daily Record
  Smoke fills the sky over Lookout Mountain from the Taylor Bridge Fire east of Cle Elum on Monday.​
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  Brian Myrick / Daily Record
  Flames from the Taylor Bridge Fire climb the side of Lookout Mountain east of Cle Elum on Monday.​
• 
  Brian Myrick / Daily Record
  A firefighting helicopter operated by the Washington state Department of Natural Resources works to supress flames from the Taylor Bridge Fire east of Cle Elum on Monday.​
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  Richard Dickin / the Tri-City Herald
  Barb Otte of West Richland holds a neighbor's horse as she watches a line of flames head across Red Mountain in West Richland late Monday afternoon. Several of Kelly Arthur-Mooreís neighbors rushed to help her pull three horses and other pets out of harm's way.​

Associated Press

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  Northwest news
  

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CLE ELUM -- A fast-moving wildfire burned 40 homes across about 23 square miles of central Washington grassland, timber and sagebrush, a fire spokesman said Tuesday.

Fire commanders estimate the blaze has burned at least 15,000 acres since it started Monday afternoon east of the town of Cle Elum, said Mark Grassel, a state Department of Natural Resources spokesman.

Fire officials said more homes were threatened. So far, no injuries have been reported.

The fire crept within six miles of Ellensburg, Grassel said. Crews stopped its forward movement, although it is not contained. State officials dispatched additional firefighters and equipment to the blaze from around the state.

The Kittitas County sheriff's office warned those in the fire's path to evacuate. Few people took advantage of an emergency shelter in Cle Elum.

The fire also threatened a chimpanzee sanctuary, KING-TV reported. It burned some property but the chimps were OK, Diana Goodrich of Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest told the station.

The state Transportation Department said a 14-mile section of U.S. Highway 97 was closed because of the fire.

The fire started along Highway 10 between Ellensburg and Cle Elum, said Kent Verbeck, a commissioner and one of the volunteers with Fire District 7.

"It went on up the hillside in an area where there are some pretty nice homes and it burned up there," Verbeck said. "There may be cabins and outbuildings as well."

Verbeck was on the fire line until early Tuesday.

"A lot of the area is sagebrush, which is really dry and burning with a pretty good flame," he said. "Lot of dry terrain with the wind going the right way and it just kept going," Verbeck said.

"It eventually got so big and spread so much late last night we were dealing with miles of fire front," he said.

 

[Greg Richardson]

Here's some more.......................

August 14, 2012 at 7:37 AM
Wildfire near Cle Elum caused by construction work

Posted by Jennifer Sullivan






Firefighters battling the Taylor Bridge wildfire wait at dawn at a burnout line along Pheasant Lane at Reeser Creek Road near Ellensburg. High winds and dry conditions are fueling the fire that had burned nearly 26,000 acres by Tuesday morning. More photos (Photo by Bettina Hansen / The Seattle Times)




A construction crew working east of Cle Elum is believed to have caused the raging Taylor Bridge wildfire that has burned 60 homes and 26,000 acres and continues to spread, according to a spokeswoman at the fire scene.
More details about the cause of the fire weren’t immediately available from the Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office which has been investigating the fire’s origin, according to Eastside Fire and Rescue spokeswoman Josie Williams who’s working as a spokeswoman at the fire scene.
Williams said more than 450 people were evacuated overnight. The Department of Natural Resources said that the sheriff’s office called for additional evacuations this morning.
The fire was moving so quickly that many people set livestock free to save them as the flames advanced, she said. The Kittitas County Fairgrounds is accepting pets and livestock as well.
In the meantime, fire crews continue to battle a blaze that is being fueled by dry conditions and strong winds.
With more than 26,000 acres, the wildfire is moving at 25-30 miles per hour and there is zero containment as of this morning, according to Department of Natural Resources spokesman Mark Grassel.
“It’s still spreading to the east and southeast,” Grassel said.
The Department of Corrections has sent 145 inmates from Cedar Creek, Larch and Olympic Corrections Centers to help fight the fire

Dry vegetation was fueling the fire on steep terrain, making it difficult for firefighters to knock it down.
The fire located, Highway 10, started about 1:15 p.m. on Monday and quickly spread, eventually jumping over Highway 97.
The Washington State Fire Marshal’s Office announced this morning that the state Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at Camp Murray has been activated to assist in battling the fire. Personnel from the state fire marshal’s office will be on scene to coordinate resources.
This morning found Howard and Joanne Briggs having pancakes at the Cle Elum Senior Center, one of the Red Cross emergency shelters.
Their home at Sunlight Waters was not on fire, but their cars were stuffed with belongings as they fretted about why the day would bring. They have lives for 20 years in their home and evacuates once before for wildfire.
At 3 am, police cars and neighbors alerted them I the evacuation, they said. “You know when you’re in that panic situation you don’t think too well,” said Joanne. “I’m grabbing pictures off the wall.”
They slept a few hours on cots provided by the Red Cross.
Diana Goodrich, director of outreach at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest in Cle Elum, said that the worst of the flames they saw near the property yesterday afternoon are dying out. Goodrich said that she evacuated with her pet dogs and cats yesterday, but her husband stayed put with the seven rescued chimpanzees.
“We’re definitely aware of the fire danger here and our protocol is that we’ve kept a perimiter around the building and a barrier. I think we were confident when we saw three helicopters overhead dumping water on the building, the firefighters did a great job.”
Goodrich said that they don’t have any power and are running on a minimal amount of electricity from a generator. She said they also don’t have access to their well water, so the chimps are drinking bottled water and orange juice.
“They’re bewildered, at least some of them,” but she said they’re trying to make today a party-like atmosphere for the chimpanzees.
At Red Sky Orchards, near exit 93 on Interstate 90 in Thorp, Victoria Dilley stood in the parking lot talked about being evacuated early this morning.
Dilley, who lives in Elma, had gone to her parent’s home near the wildfire. Around 2:30 a.m. a stranger on a motorcycle pulled up in front of the home and said they were about to be evacuated. Fifteen minutes later the Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office showed up and asked them to evacuate.
“The sky was just red all the way around,” Dilley said.
Dilley and her parents, Delores, 83, and Ernie, 88, climbed into a truck and drove to a middle school in Ellensburg where they thought they could seek shelter. When they no one at the middle school, they drove back to the Red Sky Orchards parking lot, in Thorp, where they spent the night in their truck.

 

[mikeyb]

Mikey. Fishing good for the soul.
BTW. I love the JOHN boat. One of the best made. You can stand up in it feeling safe, switch seats, do a whole lot where in other boats the stability isn't there.

Yep, that is what I have. Went to Lake St. Claire, what a beautiful lake. Unfortunately what I bought was a jon designed for carrying on top of a car and the bottom is just 3' wide. I would have prefered a bottom that was 4' wide (for more stability) and at least 16'. Live and learn. The 14' is ok but not ideal. The best thing tho, is that it launches and retrives very easily which was my major concern. I let my son talk me into a 10HP for it but I really only needed a 5HP. Should have listened to myself. LOL

 

[JNB]

Thank You Greg.. for posting the info about Cle Elum. We have family in that area (Roslyn) and we were just talking about the fires and looking for info on it. Was cool to pop in here and see info to go check out..

 

[JNB]

Well Ive done its official I went out and ordered 36 Cornish X.... Im feeling a bit nervous about the idea of raising and butchering since we have not done that with chickens since I was a very little girl. A neighbor has offered to teach us how to process in exchange for my raising him 12 birds. Im still nervous.. I keep telling myself that we raise and process our own Beef and chickens are alot smaller. but still!!! At least Ill have 8 to 10 weeks to get my self ready...

So for the rest of today and this evening Im going to be out revamping a coop to raise the little things in till they are big enough to go into a chicken tractor... Wish me Luck

 

[lisaheath1]

Well Ive done its official I went out and ordered 36 Cornish X.... Im feeling a bit nervous about the idea of raising and butchering since we have not done that with chickens since I was a very little girl. A neighbor has offered to teach us how to process in exchange for my raising him 12 birds. Im still nervous.. I keep telling myself that we raise and process our own Beef and chickens are alot smaller. but still!!! At least Ill have 8 to 10 weeks to get my self ready...

So for the rest of today and this evening Im going to be out revamping a coop to raise the little things in till they are big enough to go into a chicken tractor... Wish me Luck

I thought it would be great to do that and fill the freezer. My friend had someone raise hers and then she and her hubby went to help on "processing day". She was so happy to do it and raves about how meat is sooooo much better than store bought. I told her to let me know when she does it next year and I want to join in.

I am a new chicken owner still. I have five chicks and just built my coop. But I would very much love to have a freezer full of meat

 

[FlyRobinFly]

Quote: x2! I took pictures of my first eggs, including the shot of one next to a store bought egg, in the frying pan, the pullet eggs side by side as they grew larger, etc. It's all part of the fun of keeping chickens!

 

[FlyRobinFly]

Welcome to all the new folks!

Hoping the wildfires in central WA get contained soon, and people and animals are safe.

 

[Teva]

As of 9am 1000 acres burned, 60 houses gone. Gov. Gregoire is declaring a state of emergency which will open up help from FEMA and also activate the National Guard. 200 firefighters on scene, 0% contained. American Red Cross is also involved.