Wind-fueled wildfire burns 140 acres
An outbuilding burns Friday evening during a wind-whipped wildfire that destroyed about 140 acres near Soap Lake.
SOAP LAKE - A wildfire near Soap Lake burned about 140 acres along with two sheds and a pump house on Friday, but fire crews saved several homes and animals from the flames.
The fire sprung up about 1 p.m. when a refuse pile burned on Thursday was rekindled by windy conditions, according to Grant County Fire Marshal Dave Nelson on Tuesday.
Nelson said a web posting by Grant County Fire District 13 was false in stating the fire was started by children playing with a lighter.
Crews responding to the fire near Road 20 and state Route 28 included Grant County fire districts 5, 7 and 13, along with the Ephrata and Soap Lake fire departments, according to Fire District 7 Chief Kirk Sheppard. He said crews were on scene until about 10 p.m. Friday and returned on Saturday when piles of animal waste and other refuse briefly flared up.
Fire crews reportedly protected as many as eight homes and dozens of heads of livestock from Friday's fire, which was fanned by winds gusting up to 45 miles per hour. Hundreds of hay bales burned along with the three outbuilding structures and fields of sagebrush, grass and standing hay.
Several residents briefly evacuated their homes as a precautionary measure and a portion of Road 20 was closed for several hours on Friday.