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Wildfire Growing On Colville Reservation As Threat Of Lightning Looms

Washington Interagency Incident Management Team #4

The wildfire burning on the Colville Indian Reservation continues to grow. The Devil's Elbow Complex, which has topped 19,000 acres, is only 4 percent contained.

Over the weekend, some 700 firefighters battled the blaze, which has claimed one abandoned house. About 150 additional homes are threatened, and 32 people have been evacuated.

Fire spokeswoman Kathy Moses says the big fear now is that a major storm system with dry lightning expected to arrive Tuesday may produce even more fires.

“We are anticipating the weather to be coming in tomorrow, and we have put some crews on standby for initial attack. And that means if some other fires start, they would be sent to those fires," she said Monday.