State no longer seeking volunteers to fight fires
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — The state of Washington is no longer looking for volunteers to battle the wildfires that have burned more than 1,100 square miles of land.
The Department of Natural Resources says it will close three volunteer intake offices on Thursday afternoon. The offices are located in Omak, Colville and Castle Rock.
Thousands of people applied in the past week to help battle the wildfires.
The department says that among the applicants it found 315 heavy equipment operators and identified more than 100 pieces of previously unregistered equipment that could be called upon if needed.