By Brock HiresThe Chronicle

AENEAS VALLEY – TheNorth Star Fire continuedracing across the ColvilleIndian Reservation thisweekend and growingnorthward toward AeneasValley.

The fire has not yet mergedwith the Tunk Block Fireburning east of Tonasket andOmak, as well as the adjacentChewiliken and Tunk valleys.

Should the fires merge, theentire complex will be largerthan last year’s CarltonComplex wildfires that burned256,108 acres in southernOkanogan County.

Fire officials said yesterdaythat when improved fireinformation is available, firemanagers will be able todetermine perimeters of thefires more precisely.

Meanwhile, the Tunk BlockFire is only a couple miles westof the North Star Fire. Thelatter, now estimated at126,522 acres, continues toburn along the Colville IndianReservation with nocontainment in sight.

As of press time Saturdayafternoon, Level 3 (highest)evacuation orders remained ineffect for all of Aeneas Valley,Nespelem and surroundingareas.

“The sky may be clear in theAeneas Valley; however, theAeneas Valley area is still in aLevel 3 status,” officials saidSaturday morning. “Please staysafe and avoid this area; Firebehavior can change quicklyand we do not want anyone toget trapped in that area.”

State Highway 20 fromTonasket east to Aeneas Valleywas closed Friday, with somestate Department ofTransportation escort openings.

Although as many as 2,000structures remain threatened,fire officials were adamantSaturday that no structureshave been lost in the North StarFire.

However, unconfirmedresidential reports indicatemultiple structures weredestroyed Friday morning inthe Haley Creek and Disautelareas, southeast of Omak.

State Highway 155 has beenclosed between Omak andNespelem.

And Colville IndianReservation forests are closedto the public due to extremefire danger.

Chronicle/Page 4

Fire forcesathletes inside

MAY 7, 2011 A JOINT PUBLICATION OF THE WENATCHEE WORLD AND THE CHRONICLE $1.50

XxxxxXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Page C1 / The World

XxxxxXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Page A2 / The Chronicle

XxxxxXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Page A1 / The World

&

A joint publicAtion of the wenAtchee world And the chronicleAugust 23, 2015 $1.50

The battlecontinuesCrews in Chelan

still fightingmultiple fires

World/Page A1

The omak-okanogan CounTy

MAY 7, 2011 A JOINT PUBLICATION OF THE WENATCHEE WORLD AND THE CHRONICLE $1.50

XxxxxXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Page C1 / The World

XxxxxXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Page A2 / The Chronicle

XxxxxXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Page A1 / The World

&ChroniCleChroniCle

One winerydestroyed, others

impacted by Reach

World/Page C3

Picking upthe pieces

Football practice forhigh school playersbegins amid smoke

6 68 1 3 2 4 2 0 0 0 2

Year 106 No. 28

www.omakchronicle.com

Another firefighter transported to hospital

By Roger HarnackThe Chronicle

OMAK — A Grant Countyfirefighter was transported toMid-Valley Hospital after beingtaken off the fire line alongGreenacres Road on Friday

afternoon.Incident command officials

in the Okanogan CountyEmergency Operations Centerdid not have the name and ageof the firefighter, nor did theyhave information on the extentof his injuries or treatment.

The firefighter wastransported by pickup truckfrom the Greenacres Road areato Omak Municipal Airport at11:55 a.m. There, he was put ona gurney and loaded into aLifeLine Ambulance bound forMid-Valley Hospital.

An employee at the hospitalSaturday said the firefighter’sstatus could not be looked upwithout his name.

The firefighter is the fifthknown to have beentransported to a hospital.

Daniel Lyon, 25, of Puyallup,was flown to HarborviewMedical Center in Seattlefollowing a vehicle crash in theline of fire Aug. 19. At leastseven firefighters were involvedin that incident.

Former Carlton residentTom Zbyszewski, 20, of Walla

Walla; Andrew Zajac, 26, ofWinthrop and RichardWheeler, 31, of South Haven,Mich., were killed in thatincident. And fire officials haveyet to release the names, ages,hometowns or conditions of theother firefighters.

According to the U.S. ForestService, those involved in thatincident were in a vehicle thatcrashed in the Twisp River areaand were overtaken by fire.

Dr. Tam Pham, who istreating Lyon, said thefirefighter suffered third-degree

burns over more than half of hisbody and is in intensive care.

He will have a long recoveryahead of him, hospital officialssaid.

A team will review the firefighters’ actions and the crash

“The investigation will becoordinated with theWashington state DNRinvestigation of injuries of twowildland firefighters sustainedon the same fire,” a statementreleased by the U.S. Forest

At least five men

have been injured

and three killed

fighting fire here

Okanogan Countystill in line of fire

By Dee CampThe Chronicle

MAK – Firescontinue to hammerOkanogan and Ferrycounties, leavingresidents on edge

and mourning losses ofhomes, and fire officialsscrambling as flames spotahead, flare up in alreadyburned neighborhoods oradvance into new areas.

“The intensity is hard todescribe in the rightterms,” said Commissionerof Public Lands PeterGoldmark, who visitedOkanogan County onWednesday. “It’s anothervery, very dangerous anddamaging fire season.”

A Red Flag Warning wasissued Saturday afternoonby the National WeatherService for EasternWashington for 1 p.m.today to 9 p.m. Mondaybecause of hot, dry andunstable weatherconditions, and thepotential for increased fireactivity. A similar warning

was issued last week; itexpired Friday.

Six fires – some of whichhave merged – make up theOkanogan Complex. Theyhave burned many homesin the Omak, Okanogan,Riverside, Conconully andTwisp areas. An exact countwas not available at presstime, because the fires werestill raging, OkanoganCounty Sheriff FrankRogers said.

Homes have burned onOmak-Riverside EastsideRoad, Chewiliken and Tunk

Fire officials unable

to provide accurate

information on size,

damage caused

NorthStarFireragesOfficials: Blaze has

not yet merged

with Tunk Block

Al Camp/The Chronicle

See Injured 2

O

SeeFire2