AVERY COOPER: There are multiple wildfires burning on the Colville Reservation in eastern Washington, displacing people and destroying homes. One of these fires, the Kaiser Canyon fire, is the largest one in Washington right now. NWPB’s Lauren Gallup reports.
LAUREN GALLUP: When the Kaiser Canyon fire jumped into the town of Nespelem, it was coming right towards Corby Turner’s neighborhood. 
CORBY: TURNER: “ I get outside to assess it, and immediately there's explosions, there's cars blowing up, the fire's ripping.”
GALLUP: Turner says he could see the fire going from house to house. 
TURNER: And it caught up in the drainage below our houses and start coming towards our homes.” 
GALLUP: Turner, who used to be a firefighter, and other guys, started getting hoses out and spraying things down. His friend came through with a bulldozer, digging into the ground to create a fire break.
You can hear that here —
Sound of bulldozer digging into ground.
TURNER: “ We corralled it and held it along the line all the way up till the west side of town, and we got it extinguished to the point where we could hold it.”
GALLUP: The group held the fire for about 20 minutes before aerial support and fire engines started attacking it.
Turner shared this audio as helicopters started to drop in —
Sound of helicopters, people breathing as they battle the fire
GALLUP: These guys have been out for weeks, using their landscaping equipment, garden hoses and anything else they have on hand. They’re trying to keep the fire from destroying this town where about 150 people live. 
If he and the other guys weren’t out there —
TURNER: “I really feel like we would have lost ten to fifteen more homes, at least ten to fifteen more.” 
GALLUP: In the past few weeks, fires have destroyed at least 30 homes across the reservation. Turner’s family members lost two homes, one that had been theirs for nearly five decades.
TURNER: “ The average home has eight to 10 individuals living there. So with that being said, anybody that loses a house, it displaces anywhere from eight to 10 to even 15 people at times.” 
GALLUP: The Kaiser Canyon and Modrite fires both started in mid-July. Dry, windy conditions have fueled their spread. Smaller spot fires have jumped lines. 
Community members are getting resources to people who need them.
FAITH ZACHERLE: “Our crew goes in and drops off food, water, batteries, gas for generators. Pretty much anything that our community needs, we deliver.” 
GALLUP: Faith Zacherle is part of the River Warriors Society. She and others wanted to try to get things to people in emergencies. They’ve been doing this every summer for over a decade. It’s usually just Zacherle and a handful of others.
Every day they get 500 dollars in gas to guys like Corby Turner that are volunteering their time and equipment to fight fire. 
ZACHERLE: “ We're able to get in there and respond to emergency services in real time.” 
GALLUP: Zacherle drives between 400 and 500 miles a day around the reservation. When the Modrite fire moved into the town of Inchelium, the River Warriors Society paid to get gas in over 70 families’ cars so they could evacuate. 
ZACHERLE: “ This fire is a little bit different because it's hitting all four of our districts. It's hit Nespelem, it's hit Omak, it's hit Keller, it's hit Inchelium, so our whole entire rez is on fire right now.” 
GALLUP: It’s hit Zacherle too. She has people camping out in her yard. There’s a fire line dug up around her house. For now, she thinks they’re safer than in other areas. 
I’m Lauren Gallup, reporting