Wildfires burn 3 homes in Spokane WA suburb

New wildfires pushed by strong winds burned three homes in a wooded area of suburban Spokane Valley late Thursday, and other homes were being evacuated.

KREM-TV video showed three houses in flames in the Dishman Hills area, where winds reported gusted as high as 50 miles per hour. Three new wildfires were burning in the area.

Residents of more than a dozen homes have been asked to evacuate, authorities said.

At least six homes were threatened, said Bill Clifford, a spokesman for the Spokane Valley Fire Department. The state Department of Natural Resources was assisting local firefighting efforts.

The fires were reported Thursday afternoon.

Wildfires elsewhere in Eastern Washington advanced across rough terrain, burning nearly 9 square miles, as the National Weather Service issued red-flag warnings for wildfire conditions.

Firefighters were battling steep terrain, rattlesnakes and wind gusts of up to 30 mph on a blaze near Tonasket, just south of the U.S.-Canada border, said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Robin DeMario.

Evacuation orders were lifted for eight homes there late Thursday, but residents of another 11 homes remained on notice they might have to flee the Cayuse Fire, which has burned at least 1,000 acres. No structures have burned, and nearly 200 firefighters were on the scene.

Residents of more than three dozen condominiums and homes waited and watched as another fire pushed toward a golf course near the town of Orondo, about 20 miles north of Wenatchee.

Authorities alerted residents of some 40 condos to be aware of the fire, which was moving toward the Desert Canyon Golf Course. About 2,000 acres already had burned late Thursday, with 50 firefighters assigned to the fire, DeMario said.

Both fires started Wednesday.

Crews gained ground on the nearby Badger Creek Fire, also north of Wenatchee, which has burned 4 square miles but was 60 percent contained late Thursday. About 125 people were assigned to the blaze, which started Tuesday.

Twenty miles southwest of Naches in south-central Washington, a 70-acre fire near Tampico was 50 percent contained. Some 160 firefighters battled the fire.

The fire also started Wednesday. The cause of all the wildfires remained under investigation.