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WASHINGTON'S WILDFIRES THE 'WORST IN THE STATE'S HISTORY' AS FIREFIGHTERS TRAVEL FROM AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND TO HELP BATTLE THE BLAZES

Darren Boyle for MailOnline

August 25, 2015

One cluster of wildfires has destroyed more than 400 square miles of land and an estimated 200 homes
Emergency responders have drafted in the National Guard, 4,000 volunteers and 70 Antipodean firefighters
The blazes are breaking out in forests along the state's border with Canada and down into Oregon
Fires are being started by lightning strikes that ignite the tinder-dry forests, quickly spreading on the wind

The wildfires spreading across Washington and Oregon are now officially the worst since records began - with firefighters having to be drafted in from Australia and New Zealand to fight the flames.

The biggest fire burning on Monday was in Okanogan County on the Canadian border, where a group of five fires raging out of control became the largest in state history, scorching more than 400 square miles, said fire spokesman Rick Isaacson.

Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers said: 'I'd like to set some different records.'

The devastating lightning-sparked fires there have so far claimed the lives of three firefighters and destroyed some 200 homes.

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A helicopter comes down to take in water from Lake Chelan, Washington, before flying inland to douse the First Creek wildfire on Sunday

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Residents confer with a firefighter while keeping an eye on a blaze on a hillside near Omak, Washington, on Sunday afternoon

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