ATHOL, Idaho — People spent the night in an evacuation shelter worrying about their homes as a wildfire burning northeast of Athol doubled in size overnight.
The 1,400-acre ‘Sunset Fire,’ first reported Tuesday afternoon, is burning across both Kootenai and Bonner Counties, roughly 20 miles from Sandpoint.
The fire has prompted multiple evacuation orders, including Level 3 (GO NOW) evacuations.
The Idaho Department of Lands reports close to 200 fire personnel are battling the flames as clouds of smoke fill the air around the community.
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“Honestly, I just felt panic through most of it,” said Olivia Moore. She has lives in the area and spent the night at the Red Cross evacuation center in Sagle with her family.
“I went from being kind of bummed that I couldn’t go to a movie in a theme park to, ‘oh my God, am I going to lose my house tonight?'” Moore said.
Many people had to evacuate so quickly they couldn’t even grab a toothbrush or medication.
Katie Greenough and her sister evacuated with enough time to let their chickens out of their coop.
“It’s scary. This is the first time we’ve ever had to evacuate,” she said. “I just yelled at my sister to get her shoes on and I went outside to start opening all my chicken pens to let them go.”
The evacuation center at Sagle Elementary has had people coming and going throughout the day and will remain open as long as needed, Red Cross officials said.
So far, three structures have been damaged by the fire. Firefighters are continuing to assess the area to determine if additional buildings have burned.
As firefighting efforts progress, Moore has noticed the flames beginning to move away from her home, though the shift brings mixed emotions.
“It’s kind of bittersweet because it’s not towards us. But then it’s like, ‘oh no, it’s towards other people,'” she said.
An additional evacuation shelter has been set up at Cocolalla Bible Camp at 209 Cocolalla Loop.
Click here for the latest evacuation orders.
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