Pateros, Washington — Refuge Town Had to Evacuate Too

Pateros sits where the Methow River reaches the Columbia, surrounded by water and orchard country.

During the Carlton Complex wildfire in July 2014, that setting initially seemed relatively safe.

People evacuating fires farther up the Methow came toward Pateros.

Then the fire followed them.

Heat and wind drove flames rapidly south, and the entire town had to evacuate.

No one in Pateros was killed or seriously injured, but homes inside town and across the surrounding area were destroyed.

Rebuilding became part of the community's modern history.

It is not the whole history.

The river confluence made Pateros useful for transportation and agriculture long before 2014, and irrigated orchards still shape the surrounding economy.

The fire changed the town.

Pateros did not get to define everything that came before or after.