A look behind the fire line of WA's deadly Chelan Hills Fire
Chelan Hills fire: 1 dead, 19 homes destroyed in Douglas County, WA
A human-caused wildfire in Douglas County, Washington has claimed one life and destroyed 19 primary residences. The Chelan Hills fire reached several hundred degrees, melting vehicles and leaving a moonscape behind. Investigators are weighing arson and manslaughter charges as K9 units search the ashes for unaccounted victims.
DOUGLAS COUNTY, Wash. - The Chelan Hills Fire remains out of control five days after investigators said someone started the deadly fire.
What we know:
On Wednesday, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office drove FOX 13 Seattle past the fire line to reveal the devastation the fire caused.
"What’s different about this one is the devastation and the tragedy"
Sheriff Tyler Caille tells FOX 13 Seattle 25 homes are damaged by the fire. Out of the 25, 19 homes are destroyed. Caille says in total, 100 structures have been impacted by the flames.
What they're saying:
"What’s different about this one is the devastation and the tragedy that we faced," said Caille. "The loss of structures, primary houses of many families, lots of secondary structures and unfortunately, the loss of one life."
One person died in their car trying to escape the flames, investigators report. Caille says crews are now using search dogs to go through the rumble of homes destroyed by the fire.
"What they are doing is searching those properties to make sure we don’t have any unaccounted victims," said Caille.
Former sight of a family home, destroyed by the Chelan Hills Fire.
Big picture view:
As of Wednesday, about 10,000 acres have burned and crews have 50% of the fire contained.
"We’re still under level 3 evacuations," said Caille. "There are still fire crews out here working on finding hot spots and mitigating those."
While the fire is still under investigation, Caille tells FOX 13 Seattle investigators are looking into criminal charges.
"We’re looking at everything from arson charges for the initial start of the fire, and with the death of the individual we’re looking at manslaughter charges," he said.
Investigators say the deadly Chelan Hills Fire is now a criminal investigation after someone allegedly started the blaze near Highway 97 on July 4. The wildfire has burned about 10,000 acres, killed one person and destroyed homes. Authorities are sea
What you can do:
Several families have lost everything after the fire destroyed their homes. FOX 13 Seattle has a list of GoFundMe fundraisers that are collecting money for the victims of the fire.
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The Source: Information in this story came from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and original FOX 13 Seattle reporting and interviews.