VIDEO: This year marks 30 years since multiple wildfires ravaged across Washington state, destroying dozens of homes and forcing evacuations across the state. Now, in that same area, current residents are battling their own fight against fires.
The year 1994 started with major drought. After a hot and dry year, conditions during the summer of 1994 were a recipe for disaster. By the end of July, multiple fires had started back-to-back, both from lightning and people, including the Tyee Fire, the Hatchery Creek Fire and the Rat Creek Fire. The iconic tourist town of Leavenworth was at the epicenter of the fires and was evacuated.
“Everybody was gone; it was a ghost town,” remembered Kelly O’Brien, who is now the fire chief at Chelan County Fire District #3.
In 1994, he had just become one of two fulltime firefighters with the district.