Jan Wesner Childs
An investigation was underway Tuesday to determine what caused a Labor Day wildfire that almost completely destroyed a small town in Eastern Washington.
The fire burned 80% of the buildings in the Whitman County town of Malden, including homes, businesses, the fire station, post office and city hall.
Officials said the blaze, named the Babb Fire, started in nearby Spokane County and burned a path 15 miles and two miles wide, KQQQ Radio reported.
Malden resident Larry Frick's home was still standing after the flames passed, but nearly everything else in the town was left in charred ruin. Several structures also burned in the neighboring town of Pine City.
"It’s gone, brother," Frick said in a text after the fire ripped through, KXLY-TV reported. "The entire town is gone. Everything from here to Pine City is gone. The scariest time of my life."
Some 200 people live in Malden, a farming community about 35 miles south of Spokane.
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Both Malden and Pine City were still under evacuation orders Tuesday evening, and the sheriff's office said it could be 24 to 48 hours before it's safe for residents to return.
The aggressive fire began moving quickly toward the town around noon, according to a news release Monday evening from the Whitman County Sheriff's Office. Deputies went door to door and also made announcements with their vehicle public address systems, warning people to evacuate immediately.
The sheriff posted photos of buildings in flames among smoldering piles of rubble and torched cars.
"The scale of this disaster really can’t be expressed in words," Sheriff Brett Myers said in the news release. "The fire will be extinguished but a community has been changed for a lifetime. I just hope we don’t find the fire took more than homes and buildings. I pray everyone got out in time."
There were no reports of injuries or deaths as of Tuesday morning.
The fire that tore through Malden was one of three burning in the area at the time due to dry, windy conditions. Myers said winds were blowing between 40 and 50 mph.
Evacuation orders were in effect in at least six counties in the eastern part of the state on Monday, according to the American Red Cross, Northwest Region. Several school districts canceled classes Tuesday due to the fires as well as related power outages and air quality issues, KING-TV reported.
Washington Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz tweeted late Monday night that more than 465 square miles of land burned across the state on the Labor Day holiday.
"Thousands of homes are without power," Franz wrote. "Many families have had to evacuate their homes and many homes have been lost. We're still seeing new fire starts in every corner of the state."
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
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