Wildfire burns brush near Othello
Fire crews with Grant County fire districts 3, 5 and 15 joined Ephrata Fire Department personnel in battling a 50 acre brushfire near Ephrata Wednesday. Fire crews were also busy Thursday with a 1,200 acre fire near Royal City and a structure fire on Dodson Road.
EPHRATA - A 1,200 acre wildfire burning between Royal City and Othello was mostly contained as of Thursday evening, fire officials said.
Local fire crews also responded to a structure fire and a brush fire near Ephrata Wednesday evening and early Thursday.
The 1,200 acre fire started Wednesday afternoon along State Route 26 in Grant County and moved southward into Adams County overnight, according to Capt. Ron Fryer with the Southeast Washington Incident Management Team.
More than 100 firefighters from 10 agencies were helping quash the blaze, which burned old growth sagebrush and grass, Fryer said. No injuries have been reported, although Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste advised one residence and an outbuilding were threatened Thursday.
State fire assistance was mobilized early Thursday morning under the Washington State Fire Services Resource Mobilization Plan, allowing for extra resources in support of local firefighters, Batiste stated.
The wildfire was 70 percent contained Thursday and Fryer said he hoped to see 100 percent containment by late Thursday evening, depending on wind conditions.
Also Wednesday, a wildfire burned approximately 50 acres of sagebrush off Dodson Road Northwest near County Road 12.8 Northwest, about three miles south of Ephrata, according to Grant County Fire District 5 Capt. Travis Svilar.
Crews with fire districts 3, 5 and 15 joined the Ephrata Fire Department in extinguishing the fire within a few hours and no structures were threatened or injuries reported, Svilar said.
Finally, about 3:15 a.m. Thursday the same agencies responded to a structure fire on Dodson Road Northwest between Road 5 and Road 6 Northwest. A 40 by 100 foot agriculture building used for drying herbs and filled with oregano was burning. Svilar said the building was a total loss, although firefighters managed to save some electrical apparatus at one end of the structure. No other structures in the area were threatened by the fire.
The cause of all three fires is still under investigation, according to fire officials.