YAKIMA — Firefighters containing the Newell Road Fire in Klickitat County got a break Thursday night when conditions were deemed stable enough to forgo night shifts.
As of Friday morning, the fire was at 71 percent containment with no growth in the last 24 hours, according to Northwest Incident Management Team 8. The fire’s size was 61,313 acres, or roughly 97 square miles.
In a morning update, Dave Robertson, one of the fire incident team leaders, said Friday’s plan was to focus on the fire’s northwestern edge and put out smoke spots across the fire’s interior.
A daily report from the incident management team said fire crews will use aircraft to direct firefighters toward internal hot spots or, in some cases, use water drops to put them out. Mop-up along the perimeter of the fire will continue into the weekend.
The incident team will hand over management of the fire to local fire departments by Sunday. A total of 387 people were assigned to the fire Friday.
Evacuation levels for the area remain the same since Wednesday. The incident team’s report said Bickleton- and Cleveland-area residents should be advised that their evacuation route is now to the northeast of Grandview.
As of Thursday evening, Bickleton Highway at Old Mountain Road is closed, as are Rock Creek at the Old Highway 8 intersection, Sundale Road at State Route 14 and Old Highway 8 at State Route 14.
Though some roads have opened, they are still being monitored for fire activity and could be closed again.
For more information, visit the Klickitat County Department of Emergency Management website.
Red Cross shelter locations: Goldendale Middle School, 520 E. Collins St., Goldendale Note: This shelter will allow dogs and cats. Some crates will be available. If you have more than a few animals, you may need to find a different location. Grandview Middle School, 1401 W. Second St. Grandview Fairgrounds, animal sheltering, 903 N. Fairgrounds Road, Goldendale.
