Wildfires turn deadly; 3 firefighters trapped and killed near Twisp

Three firefighters were killed Wednesday while battling a wildfire near Twisp. The tragedy comes as 4,000 households in Twisp and Winthrop were ordered to evacuate.

A wind-whipped wildfire outside of Twisp trapped and killed three U.S. Forest Service firefighters in a vehicle Wednesday afternoon as the blaze exploded across the sunbaked foothills of the North Cascades and raced toward two towns.

In a statement Wednesday night, the Forest Service cited an account from Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers, who has said the firefighters died after engaging the fire, then becoming involved in a vehicle accident and ultimately being overtaken by the flames.

“We are devastated by the tragic loss of three of our Forest Service firefighters,” Mike Williams, Forest Supervisor on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, said in a statement.

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