Washington wildfires now largest in state's history

The group of wildfires burning in central Washington is now the largest in state history, a fire official said Monday.

The so-called Okanogan Complex of five wildfires now covers 256,567 acres, KREM-TV reported. Rick Isaacson, a spokesman for crews battling the blazes statewide, said the complex measured just over 400 square miles, slightly more than the 2014 Carlton fires. The fires grew by more than 26 square miles on Sunday and were expected to spread even more in coming days.

Isaacson said the fires could burn for several more months.

About 1,250 firefighters were battling the fires, which were just 10% contained and threatened over 5,000 homes. The firefighters included about 700 Washington National Guardsmen.

Crews also arrived from New Zealand and Australia, as areas of central and eastern Washington battled 16 large wildfires covering more than 920 square miles.

Visibility was poor again on Monday, with smoke preventing aircraft from supporting efforts on the ground, The Wenatchee World reported. Fire spokeswoman Suzanne Flory told the newspaper that firefighters were hoping to get one of the fires, the Twisp River fire, "all buttoned up and taken care of."

The Okanogan Complex is made up of the 9 Mile, Beaver Lake, Twisp River, Lime Belt and Tunk Block fires.

A Red Flag Warning remained in effect for much of central Washington through Tuesday evening, according to the National Weather Service.

In eastern Washington, wildfires forced the Wellpinit School District on the Spokane Indian Reservation to delay the start of school from Wednesday to next Monday, The Spokesman-Review reported. The principal of Wellpinit's middle school and high school said the delay was due to poor air quality as well as firefighting activity on local roads used by school buses.