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By Dee Camp
Chronicle staff'
A fire that began in a pump house on Green Lake Road near Okanogan escaped into nearby trees the evening of July 31 and grew to about 1,000 acres by 10 p.m., according to Okanogan County sheriff Frank Rogers.
The fire quickly burned over a ridge and headed toward the Conconully Road side of Green Lake Road, threatening homes along the latter road, Rogers said.
"Kudos to the local guys," he said of initial response from Fire District No. 3 stations in Omak, Okanogan and Malott and Fire District No. 9 out of the Conconully area.
He said as soon as trucks arrived, they were stationed at homes along Green Lake Road for structure protection.
"They did an awesome job," he said. As of about 10 p.m. Thursday the pump house was the only structure lost.
Sheriff's deputies notified about a dozen homeowners along Green Lake Road, but all were aware of the fire.
Stock was the major concern, he said, adding that friends and neighbors responded quickly with trailers to help residents gather their horses and other stock.
Besides local crews, the state Department of Natural Resources responded very quickly with two helicopters. Responsibility for firefighting management was turned over to the DNR, which has assigned a type 2 management team.
The team is setting up a fire camp at Conconully State Park and plans a briefing the morning of Aug. 1, Rogers said.
The fire is expected to burn through the night, Rogers said. Its glow could be seen to the west of Omak along the first ridge line.
As of about 10 p.m. the fire had not burned to Happy Hill Road, nor had it burned to the Brown Lake area or Conconully Road end of Green Lake, the sheriff said.
Several other air attacks were made on the fire by three water-scooping airplanes that dipped into Omak Lake and a plane from Canada, Rogers said.
"There were so many aircraft over this fire," said Rogers. "It was amazing to watch."
So many aircraft flew the fire that "it looked like a World War II battle," he said.
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