Wildfire threatens Indian school near Omak

A wildfire fanned by gusty winds is threatening an Indian boarding school on the Colville Reservation east of Omak in north central Washington. A firefighter with the tribal Mount Tolman Fire Center, Charles LaPlante, said before dawn today the fire has burned some outbuildings and maybe one home in the area of the Paschal Sherman Indian School at historic St. Mary’s Mission. He says the state has dispatched 200 firefighters to help tribal, Omak and Okanogan County firefighters battle the fire that burned about 1,000 acres after it broke out Tuesday. LaPlante says the fire got around a back-burn and jumped a road. The school has about 300 students. They have been evacuated and classes are canceled today. The school itself has not burned. No injuries have been reported.