As hundreds of thousands of acres burn across much of the Northwest U.S., fire fighters are stretched to capacity and reinforcements are coming from as far away as Australia and New Zealand to help in the never-ending battle. Two hundred soldiers from the 17th Field Artillery Brigade based out of Fort Lewis, Wash., have been deployed to assist with firefighting efforts in Washington State. Five wildland fire suppression crews and one CL-415 scooper group from Ontario, Canada and airtanker groups from both Saskatchewan and Alberta are lending their firefighting expertise to fire suppression efforts in the Northern Rockies as more than 40,000 acres burned in that area alone.
The National Interagency Fire Center says that over 8 million acres have burned so far this year, and while the total number of fires for the year is lower than the national average, the number of acres consumed is well over the 5.5 million annual average. Three firefighters were overtaken by a wildfire in north-central Washington and lost their lives. Four others were severely injured. The fires in Washington State have consumed more than 235,000 acres of trees, homes and other structures, and the Okanogan Complex fire is the largest fire in the state's history at 144,000 acres. Preliminary estimates place damages to structures at more than $8 million according to the Seattle Times.
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