Wildfire expands to 15,000 acres, prompts evacuations near Dayton

DAYTON, Columbia County — Wind-driven wildfires near this southeastern Washington town raced across more than 15,000 acres Tuesday, prompting authorities to tell as many as 300 nearby residents to leave. Some 35 residents of a nursing home were evacuated because of heavy smoke.

Much of Eastern Washington remained under extreme fire threat. Weather forecasters predicted scattered thunderstorms, wind and low humidity that could increase the danger, as firefighters battled some half-dozen blazes around the state.

Lightning sparked the Columbia County Complex fire late Monday, and by late Tuesday the blaze had grown to more than 15,000 acres, or more than 23 square miles.

Some 300 firefighters were battling the fire, as well as gusting winds that blew flames right up to a couple of houses, said Clark Posey, fire marshal for the city of Dayton and Columbia County. A garage and a couple of vehicles burned.

"The wind's blowing and the temperature's right, and it ain't looking good yet," Posey said.

In Western Washington, 242 firefighters were battling the 150-acre Carbon Copy fire outside Mount Rainier National Park north of the Carbon River. The fire was burning primarily on private land away from the park, and firefighters had constructed a fire line around the south side of the blaze.