KELLER, Wash. — As we track the Swawilla and Bridge Creek fires growing over the past few days, Keller, Washington, is under Level 3 evacuations, meaning to get out now.
A meeting was held at Keller Community Center Wednesday night to go over evacuation plans.
David Nee has lived in Keller, Washington, his whole life, serving in Vietnam in 1970 and 1971.
"It's home," Nee said. "For generations, it's home."
It's a home that is now under Level 3 evacuations as the Swawilla and Bridge Creek fires continue to grow, slowly making their way closer to Nee's community, a concern he's seen grown over the past couple of years.
"The weather's been different, and the fire behavior has been a lot different," Nee said. "There's a lot more fuel than there used to be out on the forest floor."
That difference led him, his friend beside him Harlod and many others to attend a community meeting at the Keller Community Center hosted by Northern Rockies Team 6, who are in charge of managing wildfires across Montana, Idaho and Washington, along with the rest of the country as requested.
"This meeting is really designed for those folks that are a little more remote over here," Rich Cowger, the incident commander for the fire, said. "They see the smoke, they know something is going on, [the] intent is for those to live in the area to get them up to speed as best we can."
Cowger said the firefighters have zero percent containment and more than 3,000 acres burned from the Bridge Creek Fire and an estimated 20,000 acres from the Swawilla Fire.
"They're building lines," Cowger said. "They're defending homes as we speak."
These are homes that could be lost if the fire continues to spread.
"The potential to lose homes is there, and I'd hate the thought of losing either one of the homes that I have," Nee said.
Cowger said data on the containment of both fires will be looked at and released to the public over the next couple of days as crews continue to work.