Sinlahekin Fire Places Thousands On Evacuation As Flames Knock Out Power From Tonasket To Canadian Border

New evacuations have been ordered and authorities are now confirming that several structures have been lost to a ferocious wildfire that's been burning for less than a week in North Central Okanogan County.

The Sinlahekin Fire ignited last Sunday (July 26) about 12 miles west of Tonasket, and has since grown to a current estimated size of 36,267 as of 8:45 p.m. on Saturday (Aug. 1) with 0% containment.

Maurice Goodall with Okanogan County Emergency Management says the blaze is unquestionably larger than those figures, however, telling KPQ News on Saturday (Aug. 1) night that the entire hillside just across the Okanogan River about a mile to the west of Tonasket was strewn with flames from one end of the horizon to the other.

Goodall also confirmed that one cabin in the Sinlahekin Valley and a small outbuilding south of Loomis have been destroyed by the fire, but no other structures are known to have been damaged or destroyed to this point, noting that crews have been so heavily focusing on assisting evacuees that they've not yet had a chance to scout for any potential losses recently created by the blaze.

At around 8 p.m. on Saturday (Aug. 1), a Level 3 Evacuation Notice was issued for all residents west of the Okanogan River from Tonasket to just outside Oroville, including all of Palmer Mountain.

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A Level 2 Evacuation Notice has also been established for the entire town of Oroville, and Goodall says thousands of homes are in the dark from Tonasket to the Canadian Border due to a power outage that he reports is possibly connected to a major piece of electrical grid infrastructure near the Tonasket Airport, although officials have yet to pinpoint its exact source and location.

Earlier in the day, evacuations were also upgraded to a Level 3 notice for homes on Horse Coulee, Lemanasky, North Lemanasky, and Tobys Mill Roads.

Goodall also confirmed to KPQ News that the blaze has essentially burned through the town of Loomis, but he was not aware of any major structure loss within the community, noting that the flames likely pushed to its outskirts before moving north without causing any significant destruction.

The fire has spread remarkably fast in just its first six days on the landscape, as firefighters have faced an uphill battle in forging containment lines due to austere terrain that's riddled with numerous hazards like rolling boulders and falling snags (dead trees that are still loosely rooted in the ground).

Crews have attacked the flames from the air using water and retardant drops whenever possible, but their efforts have also been hampered due to persistent winds and poor visibilities created by heavy smoke from the fire.

Saturday's (Aug. 1's) rapid advance of the flames to the north and east was again fueled by gusty winds as high as 50 mph under a Red Flag Warning, which is scheduled to remain in effect until 11 p.m. on Saturday (Aug. 1).

Goodall says there are many evacuees who require transportation from the area to escape the flames, and they are being assisted by a privately-owned bus which is shuttling them to a shelter in Tonasket.

Despite the growing scale of the incident and the nominal official structure losses to this point, no injuries or deaths have reportedly been attributed to the fire.