Central Washington Wildfire Causing More Evacuations and Closures

YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — The rapid growth of central Washington wildfires has prompted more evacuation notices as two fire complexes burn closer and closer to each other.

On Wednesday evening, officials urged residents around the Mission Ridge ski area southwest of Wenatchee to leave their homes because of the rapid growth of the Table Mountain Fire Complex.

A fire spokesman for the nearby Wenatchee Complex fires, Mick Mueller, tells The Wenatchee World that there have been reports of the Table Mountain fires throwing 8-inch chunks of burning bark 6 to 7 miles into the Mission Ridge area.

The newspaper reports that residents of 150 to 200 homes were told to leave.

Earlier in the day, the wildfires prompted state officials to close a 27-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 97 on Blewett Pass.