Wildfire — Okanogan, Washington

2001-07-09 to 2001-07-23 · near Winthrop, Okanogan, Washington

Event narrative

The "Thirtymile" wildfire was in the mop-up stages on July 10 when excessively hot and dry conditions that afternoon caused the smoldering fire to blow up. The fire came roaring back to life, quickly spreading from 25 to 2,500 acres in just three hours. The quickly-spreading fire overran a group of 14 firefighters, causing members of the group to deploy emergency shelters. Four members of the group perished (direct), and four others were hospitalized with injuries. The Thirtymile fire was contained on July 23 after burning a total of 9,300 acres. The cost of fighting this fire exceeded $4.3 million.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5259483. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.