Amidst recovery efforts from the 2014 Carlton Complex Wildfire, the people of Okanogan County suffered another devastating blow. The first of the Okanogan County Fires, the Nine Mile Fire in the northern part of the county, was caused by an airplane crash on August 13th in which two people were killed. The following day, the Tunk Block and Limebelt fires erupted after multiple lightning strikes touched ground. The fourth fire, the Twisp River Fire, began as a result of a branch rubbing a wire. It would be another month and a half before the fires were contained.
Sourced from Hellstorm: A Visual Story of the Okanogan County Wildfires.
The destruction caused by the 2015 wildfires was devastating to say the least. In all, the fires burned 509,739 acres in Okanogan County. Homes, outbuildings, pets, cattle, farmland and vehicles are among the countless losses people suffered over the course of the fires. Some have since been able to recover part of their losses, but many have not. So much of what was lost - family heirlooms, pictures, journals, etc. - are simply irreplaceable. Following the fire, multiple recovery groups were organized to bring relief efforts to those who needed them. The recovery efforts are still very much in progress today, nearly three years after the fires, and will continue long into the future.
Sourced from a report by the Okanogan County Treasurer and Assessor's Office and sent out through the Okanogan County Auditor's Office.