The Eastbound lane of state Route 14 and 32nd Street, in Washougal, was closed to through traffic Friday, as several fire departments responded to a grass and brush fire at the Steigerwald National Wildlife Refuge.
Washougal police re-routed traffic to 32nd, as crews from the Camas-Washougal Fire Department, East County Fire and Rescue, Skamania Fire District 4 and the Vancouver Fire Department, arrived at the entrance to the refuge. The firefighters were dispatched at 4:58 p.m.
Three hours later, C-W Chief Nick Swinhart said the fire which had been spreading east and south fairly rapidly, consumed about 40 acres.
“We do not have a handle on it yet,” he said, by phone. “It is a very swampy area. We’re trying to keep it from the sewer treatment plant and the port industrial area.