SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Big wildfires burning near the central Washington resort town of Chelan (SHA'-lahn) are taking a toll on the region's main economic engines — tourism and the apple industry.

Visitors are staying away and a warehouse holding 1.8 million pounds of apples was destroyed, imperiling hundreds of jobs.

Several large fires burning near Chelan have scorched more than 155 square miles, destroyed about 50 homes and forced about 1,500 residents to flee. Scores of homes remain threatened.

The Chelan fires are just some of the many destructive blazes burning throughout the Northwest. In northern Idaho, more than 40 homes were lost near the town of Kamiah and in Oregon a lightning-sparked blaze on the Malheur National Forest has grown to more than 60 square miles and destroyed at least 26 homes.

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