Thousands under evacuation orders and some homes burn as wildfires race through Washington state

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Washington state on Friday, burning some homes and prompting evacuation orders for thousands of people in small rural communities. One of the largest blazes, the so-called Gray Fire near Spokane in eastern Washington, began around noon and a few hours later had surged through 4.7 square miles (12 square kilometers) of grass, timber and wheat, pushed by 35-mph (56-kph) winds, according to the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. Level 3, or «Go Now,» evacuations were issued for Medical Lake, a community of about 4,800 people and some homes and other buildings had burned, authorities said, although it wasn't clear how many.

National Guard troops were called in to help evacuate patients and staff from Eastern State Hospital, a 367-bed psychiatric facility in Medical Lake. Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels said deputies were «running from house to house» urging people to leave their homes, NBC News reported. «We've had to rescue people by boat.

We've had to rescue people by helicopter,» Nowels said. «If you're in an evacuation area, leave. We have some folks who refused to leave.

Fire then overtakes where they're at and they need to be rescued.» Evacuation orders also were issued for nearby Four Lakes, which has about 500 residents and a Level 2 evacuation alert, urging people to «Get Set» to evacuate, was issued Friday night for the city of Cheney, which has more than 13,000 residents. The alert included staff and students at Eastern Washington University, which is located in Cheney. A second Spokane County blaze dubbed the Oregon Road Fire also prompted evacuations, the Department of Natural Resources said.