Wildfire destroys about 100 homes
PATEROS, Wash. — Residents strolled through the smoldering rubble of their neighborhoods, some wearing surgical masks to protect their lungs from the smoke and ash lingering in the air of the riverside community they call “Paterodise.”
“Paterodise is hurting right now,” said one, Stephanie Brown, as she surveyed what was left of a friend’s home.
A wind-driven, lightning-caused wildfire racing through rural north-central Washington destroyed about 100 homes Thursday and Friday, leaving behind solitary brick chimneys and burned-out automobiles as it blackened hundreds of square miles in the scenic Methow Valley northeast of Seattle.
The town of Pateros, home to 650 people, was hit especially hard. Most residents evacuated in advance of the flames, and some returned Friday to see what, if anything, was left of their houses.
Residents of the small town of Malott, north of Pateros, were told to leave their homes Friday as the fire advanced, as were some living in outlying areas of nearby Brewster.
“We basically evacuated the whole town” of Malott, Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers said Friday. Several hours later, he said one home had burned in Malott but the fire threat in Brewster had eased.
There were no reports of injuries, the sheriff said.
In Pateros, a wall of fire wiped out a block of homes on Dawson Street. David Brownlee, 75, said he drove away Thursday evening just as the fire reached the front of his home, which erupted like a box of matches.
“It was just a funnel of fire,” Brownlee said. “All you could do was watch her go.”
Next door, the Pateros Community Church appeared largely undamaged.
Carol Hamshaw said her home, her daughter’s home and her brother’s home were all destroyed Thursday.
“It’s hard to believe until you stand here and see it,” she said.
