POMEROY, Wash. (AP) -- Firefighters made slow, steady progress Wednesday on a massive southeastern Washington wildfire that has burned more than 100 cabins while a new fire in northeast Washington prompted the evacuation of a handful of homes.
Elsewhere in the eastern part of the state, lightning caused several new wildfires.
A new 500-acre fire northeast of Davenport threatened six homes, which were evacuated, said Steve Harris, a state Department of Natural Resources spokesman. The cause of that fire, which started Wednesday, was not immediately known. Davenport is located west of Spokane.
About 1,400 firefighters and support personnel were assigned to the School fire near Pomeroy. It stood at 42,000 acres Wednesday and was 40 percent contained, fire spokesman Greg Smith said.
Crews continued to mop up areas east, north and west of the fire, and were working to protect structures to the south in the Umatilla National Forest.
''We feel like we accomplished a lot today,'' Smith said.
U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris, R-Wash., attended a Wednesday night public meeting in Pomeroy that fire officials organized to answer questions and outline firefighting plans, Smith said. It was the third such meeting this week.
Lightning was a problem in northcentral Washington, where at least two new fires were started by a storm that blew through the region Tuesday night.
More than 230 lightning strikes hit the Okanogan Valley, said Mark Pepin, fire spokesman for the Okanogan National Forest. The storm started one blaze in the Okanogan National Forest, called the Middle Fork fire.
Eight smoke jumpers were dropped to fight the fire, which stood at about 30 acres. More firefighters were expected to report to the fire Wednesday.
Engines from the Burnt Bread fire, 21 miles southeast of Tonasket, were sent to help with the initial attack on another lightning-caused fire west of town, said fire spokeswoman Cindy Reichelt. Crews were working to build a line around the 40-acre fire Wednesday.
State Department of Natural Resources dispatcher Lynn Kenworthy said fire officials expected to discover other new fires from the storm.
About 275 people still were assigned to the Burnt Bread fire, which was 75 percent contained Wednesday at about 1,352 acres. The cause was under investigation.
The 1,150-acre Dirty Face Fire, 18 miles northwest of Leavenworth, was 70 percent contained, said spokesman Patrick Lonergan. About 480 firefighters were assigned to the fire.
The 735-acre Lick Creek fire near Cle Elum was estimated at about 75 percent containment with full containment expected by the weekend. The fire was believed to have been caused by logging equipment that caught fire Aug. 4.
No fire-related injuries were reported in the state Wednesday.
In southcentral Washington, crews battled a 400-acre fire about 20 miles northeast of Richland. The McClane fire began Tuesday when agricultural burning spread to wildlands. The fire, which had burned onto the Hanford Reach National Monument in some marshy areas off the Columbia River, was about 40 percent contained Wednesday, according to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center.
The cause of the School fire near Pomeroy remained under investigation Wednesday. About 100 homes remained evacuated, but fire officials could not say how many of those homes were full-time residences or seasonal cabins.
Garfield County officials estimated that more than 100 residences burned in the fire last weekend, mostly hunting cabins, vacation homes or pads for recreational vehicles.
Fire crew figures for residences burned have been lower than the county's figures but Smith said Wednesday evening his records now show 49 residences destroyed and another 38 outbuildings burned, for a total of 87 buildings, with more areas still to be checked.
Gov. Christine Gregoire urged residents to be careful when returning to fire-damaged structures.
''I know everyone is anxious to return home so they can determine the extent of the damage,'' Gregoire said in a news release. ''Protecting lives and communities is my top priority, and I urge everyone to use extra caution before entering structures damaged by fire.''
Copyright 2005 Associated Press
