EPHRATA, Wash. (AP) — A man accused of starting a wildfire with a bottle rocket on the Fourth of July near Moses Lake has been charged in Ephrata with reckless burning.
Grant County prosecutors say 25-year-old Ryan L. Altona of Renton told investigators he had been firing bottle rockets and saw the fire start in grass next to a driveway. It took off in high winds before he could put a hose on it.
The Columbia Basin Herald reports the fire burned more than 1,200 acres and destroyed a home and several outbuildings and vehicles.
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Information from: Columbia Basin Herald, http://www.columbiabasinherald.com