A wildfire fueled by high temperatures and strong winds roared into a central Washington neighborhood, destroying residences and forcing residents of several hundred homes to flee, authorities said Monday.
The blaze ignited in brush just outside town Sunday afternoon and still was burning out of control, said Rich Magnussen, a spokesman for the Chelan County Emergency Management office, which has classified the air quality in the area as "unhealthy."
In just a few hours the #SleepyHollowFire has gone from Monitor to #Wenatchee and homes are burning. pic.twitter.com/PucTObg00i— Dominick Bonny (@DBonny) June 29, 2015
Officials hoped rain falling early Monday would help crews get a handle on the flames in Wenatchee, about 120 miles east of Seattle, Washington State Patrol Trooper Darren Wright said.
Fire less than 300 feet from Broadview houses. The view from a Broadview back yard: #wenworld pic.twitter.com/JmFWSbXmGT— Reilly Kneedler (@reillykneedler) June 29, 2015
#sleepyhollowfire A photo posted by Brad Wagner (@bobberdownguide) on Jun 28, 2015 at 11:19pm PDT
"We know the fire has grown overnight and we lost several more structures," Wright said Monday.
#SleepyHollowFire as of 11pm. pic.twitter.com/ytQazTTqaK— Ben&Molly (@benandmolly) June 29, 2015
The emergency management office said the evacuations were mainly in the north end of town, and included a Walmart store. The store did not burn, but several commercial buildings were near the blaze, Wright said.
One pic of the girls watching the fire. #sleepyhollowfire #wenatchee #wenatcheefire #visitwenatchee #ncwlove A photo posted by Brad Wagner (@bobberdownguide) on Jun 29, 2015 at 12:28am PDT
Officials previously said at least a dozen structures — mainly houses — were destroyed, but a helicopter was getting an update Monday morning on the number of buildings damaged and how much land has burned.
Glancing out my back window for a moment A photo posted by Sign Here X________________ (@scrufulufugus) on Jun 28, 2015 at 9:08pm PDT
There have been no immediate reports of injuries.
#sleepyhollowfire #Wenatchee A video posted by Joe Cataldo (@joecataldo) on Jun 28, 2015 at 10:16pm PDT
Fire-fighting efforts were complicated by the dry and windy conditions that accompanied the ongoing heatwave in the Northwest, which brought triple-digit heat from Las Vegas to Portland, Oregon, with excessive heat warnings and heat advisories issued for millions.
Temperatures reached 109 degrees at Wenatchee's airport on Sunday, setting an all-time record for June just one degree shy of the city's all-time record, which was set on July 17-18, 1941, according to Weather.com's senior meteorologist Jonathan Erdman.