<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=192888919167017&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Monday, March 18, 2024
March 18, 2024

Linkedin Pinterest

2 homes burn near Springdale as Washington wildfires grow

The Columbian
Published:

SPOKANE — Wildfires across Washington state burned through brush, forest and grassland amid 100-degree heat as the region braced for more hot weather and the onset of Fourth of July fireworks.

A fire near Springdale, northwest of Spokane, quickly grew to 500 acres Friday, according to the Spokesman Review (http://bit.ly/1NEa20O). It burned two homes and six outbuildings and was moving northeast into industrial timberland, Department of Natural Resources spokesman Eric Keller said.

“Everything that we’ve got is going that way right now,” Keller said. “We have dozers on it, air tankers dropping on it and everything. But it’s getting bigger.”

An emergency American Red Cross shelter readied in a local high school to help residents who were being told to leave their homes. Smoke could be seen for miles as steady winds blew eastward.

A 250-acre fire burned near Williams Lake, north of Colville, as high winds swept through the area. The fire had died down significantly by Friday night, DNR spokesman Brett Walker said.

The flames threaten some structures, but no buildings burned. The blaze was mostly in mountainous, wooded areas, Walker said.

Farther south, a 1,000-acre fire fueled by hot weather and strong winds continued to burn between Keller and Republic, according to a news release. It sent a mushroom cloud of smoke into the air that loomed above main street in Republic.

In Western Washington, a fire in Olympic National Park scorched about 2 square miles by Saturday morning and was 21 percent contained. Officials said they’ve been able to hold the fire north of the Queets River.

Meanwhile, firefighters have nearly contained the devastating fire in Wenatchee that destroyed 29 homes and blackened 4 square miles.

——

Information from: The Spokesman-Review, http://www.spokesman.com

Loading...