blazes to grow across the Pacific Northwest.The Whitman County Sheriff's Office said in a news release that a blaze dubbed the Malden Fire erupted around noon and was fueled by "extremely high winds," timber and dry fields that allowed a "firestorm" to develop.
Within hours, the blaze destroyed 80% of the homes and structures in the small town of Malden, located about 35 miles south of Spokane."The scale of this disaster really can't be expressed in words," Whitman County Sheriff Brett Myers said in a statement. "The fire will be extinguished but a community has been changed for a lifetime.
I just hope we don't find the fire took more than homes and buildings. I pray everyone got out in time."RELATED: Evacuations under way in parts of.