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Sleepy Hollow Fire: Washington Wildfire Rages, Destroying Homes And Uniting Neighbors

By Lindsay McCane
Published on: 03:32 PST, Jun 30, 2015

Sleepy Hollow fire is raging through central Washington, destroying everything in its path, including many citizen’s homes.

As the Inquisitr previously reported, the Sleepy Hollow fire started just outside of Wenatchee, approximately 120 miles east of Seattle, Washington, on Sunday, June 28, forcing hundreds of people to evacuate their homes.

Temperatures in Wenatchee reached nearly 109 degrees on Sunday. The intense heat, combined with 15 mph winds, contributed to the wildfire’s growth.

“From here, we could see embers just flying,” citizen Albert Rookard recalled. “There was fire in so many places. We could see emergency vehicles flashing across town.”

Dominick Bonny, another town citizen, watched as the houses burned to the ground.

“With the wind blowing away from us, it was like we were watching a natural disaster within arm’s reach,” he said.

Wenatchee, near Lake Chelan, is a popular tourist spot, especially for people from the southern British Columbia. However, the Washington State Police are urging those who were planning on visiting to hold off until the fire is maintained, CBC News reports.

“If you have plans to come down I would put the plans on hold and let things get under control here first,” said Trooper Brian Moore of Washington State Patrol in Chelan County.

At least 24 homes and several other outbuildings have burned since the blaze ignited. Several downtown commercial buildings also caught fire, with one releasing ammonia gas.

“That’s our biggest concern right now, and that’s where most of our resources have gone to,” Moore said on Monday, June 29.

As of Monday, the flames have enveloped roughly 3,000 acres, twice the distance it was burning through on Sunday, Reuters reports.

The community where the houses were burned have come together to help one another, grabbing water hoses to help put out the flames that firefighters couldn’t get to, USA Today reports.

“It’s kind of surreal at the moment, it’s hard to process,” said Eric Curry.

“It’s probably really going to hit me harder in a few days when I realize I don’t have anything,” Shirley Einarsson, who lost her home of 45 years, said.

Shirley was asleep when the fire reached her neighborhood, and if it wasn’t for one of her neighbors, she may not be here today.

“Our neighbor Alex was pounding on Shirley’s door because he knew she was in here,” said Curry.”He saved her life.”

“We have a wonderful neighborhood, it’s just fabulous,” Einarsson added.

[Photo via Shutterstock]

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