Fire crews make substantial gains over weekend

COULEE DAM - Except for the Wenatchee area, fire crews spent the weekend all but mopping up blazes in Grant, Douglas and Lincoln counties.

Crews at the Barker Canyon Complex fires spent Sunday containing 96 percent of the flames.

An island of 10,000 unsinged acres was discovered at the Leahy Junction arm of the blaze, dropping the total units burned down to 81.155 acres, said incident spokeswoman Karen Ripley.

Incident teams released the reins of the fire to the Bureau of Land Management over the weekend, where mop-ups and scrubbing should be the norm throughout the week.

The Apache Canyon Fire between Odessa and Creston was reduced to embers as crews reported it fully contained over the weekend, incident spokesman Chuck Turley said.

The last reported acreage for that blaze was 23,202 acres, a few notches down from the 25,000 acres reported Friday.

Wildfires around Wenatchee continued to grow through Saturday and Sunday, clocking in at nearly 34,000 acres Monday afternoon with only 17 percent contained.

The number of structures threatened now borders 800, with only one outbuilding reported as a loss so far.

A second fire base was set up in Entiat over the weekend as well.

Evacuation levels still fluctuate as weather and fire conditions change.

Gov. Chris Gregoire amended an emergency proclamation she issued last week to include a ban of all outdoor and agricultural burns east of the Cascades.

"With more warm, dry weather expected, the potential for additional fire activity remains incredibly high," the governor said. "Our fire crews are already pushed to the limits. We have to take every step possible to lessen our risk of more fires during this especially vulnerable time."

The ban, which should be lifted at midnight Tuesday, prohibits campfires, bonfires, fireworks and yard debris disposal in all Eastern Washington counties.

Health officials have continued to stress poor air quality throughout the region. Officials range quality from hazardous in the Wenatchee area to unhealthy in Ritzville.