Brooks Tract Fire Destroys Four Homes Near Omak

For the second time in less than a month, a destructive wildfire has struck the Omak area in Okanogan County.

BROOKS TRACT FIRE DESTROYS FOUR HOMES

Officials with Okanogan County Fire District No. 3 say the Brooks Tract Fire ignited from human causes at around 3 p.m. on Sunday and quickly spread in dry and breezy conditions.

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The blaze prompted Level 3 evacuation notices for residents on the east side of Omak along State Route 155 and destroyed four homes on its fiery march to the east on Colville Indian Reservation lands.

A helicopter scoops water from the Okanogan River during efforts to battle the Brooks Tract Fire near Omak on August 3 (photo credit: Okanogan Volunteer Fire Dept.)

Multiple crews from around the region and the state battled the flames until the following day when they were fully corralled and had spread to blacken roughly 100 acres.

Although three of the four residences were occupied when the fire broke out, all of them were able to make it out safely and no injuries were reported.

Flames from the Salmon Creek Fire near Omak illuminate the darkness on Sunday, August 3 (photo credit: Okanogan Volunteer Fire Dept.)

SALMON CREEK FIRE ERUPTS DURING NEARBY BROOKS TRACT FIRE

Sunday's blaze follows another which occurred in the northwest portion of Omak on July 14 - the Greenacres Fire, which torched over 1,000 acres and destroyed seven homes.
Firefighters also dealt with a second wildfire in the Omak area on Sunday - the Salmon Creek Fire, which charred several acres on a hillside adjacent to Salmon Creek Road on the southwest side of town between 10 p.m. and midnight.

The exact cause of both fires from Sunday is still under investigation.