Tourists flee Washington town as wildfire threatens homes

Source: AP

By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS and TED S. WARREN

CHELAN, Wash. (AP) — Many tourists have fled this scenic lakeside town in the Cascade Mountain range that counts on money from summer visitors after wildfires burned dozens of homes and continued to threaten many more.

Several large fires burning near the town of Chelan have scorched more than 155 square miles and destroyed an estimated 75 homes and businesses, officials said. Scores of homes remain threatened, and mandatory evacuation orders remained in effect for more than 2,900 people in the area.

Mike Steele, director of the Lake Chelan Chamber of Commerce, said it's too early to determine the economic impact of the lost tourist dollars, but he said it would be "significant."

"We're working hard to get our feet back on the ground," Steele said, noting that many of the people who would serve tourists have either had to leave or lost homes.

FULL story at link. That looks like it was a 57 Ford convertible sitting in the garage.



Remains from a burned structure sit along State Route Alt. 97 highway Monday, Aug. 17, 2015, outside of Chelan, Wash. Big wildfires threatened the Lake Chelan resort region of central Washington on Monday after driving away tourists, destroying a warehouse filled with nearly 2 million pounds of apples and forcing thousands of residents to flee. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/33124f855d7d41839f9d6fccde4d734a/big-wildfire-threatens-resort-town-washington