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Growing wildfire empties small Wash. town

Plumes of smoke from the Leavenworth wildfire arc in the sky as seen from Highway 2 at Highway 207, west of Leavenworth, Wash. on Thursday, July 17, 2014. Worsening wildfire activity has prompted the governor's offices in both Washington and Oregon to declare states of emergency. (AP Photo/The Seattle Times, Mike Siegel) Plumes of smoke from the Leavenworth wildfire arc in the sky as seen from Highway 2 at Highway 207, west of Leavenworth, Wash. on Thursday, July 17, 2014. Worsening wildfire activity has prompted the governor's offices in both Washington and Oregon to declare states of emergency. (AP Photo/The Seattle Times, Mike Siegel)

By Associated Press July 18, 2014 1 min read

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) – A Washington sheriff says a small town and nearby hospital threatened by a wind-whipped wildfire have been evacuated, and the blaze has burned at least 35 homes in his county.

Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers says he’s heard of no injuries from the Carlton Complex of wildfires.

The sheriff issued his highest evacuation notice Thursday for Pateros, a town of about 650 people along the Columbia River in east-central Washington. Residents drove south to Chelan. A hospital in nearby Brewster was evacuated as well, with the patients sent to Omak.

He said late Thursday night that the fire has reached Pateros.

The sheriff says he’s been a law enforcement officer in the county for 30 years, and sheriff for 12 years, and this fire is the worst he’s seen.

The Carlton Complex of fires has burned across at least 28 square miles of the scenic Methow Valley.