Rollover causes large wildfire near Soap Lake

SOAP LAKE — A single vehicle rollover near Soap Lake caused a large wildfire Wednesday.

The vehicle, which was occupied by two unidentified people, reportedly caught on fire after it rolled and came to a stop on the shoulder of the road, with the flames from the car igniting some nearby sagebrush and the fire rapidly spreading down a hillside. The two occupants of the vehicle received minor injuries and were transported to a local hospital for treatment.

SR-17 between Soap Lake and state Route-282 was closed for a number of hours as fire crews from several different fire districts from around Grant County responded to the area to combat the fire. A Level 3 evacuation notice was issued about 2:45 p.m. by the Grant County Sheriff’s Office for about a dozen houses southeast of the 18000 block of SR-17, near the railroad trestle, with the homes quickly evacuated. The fire was declared to be under control by the sheriff’s office about 3:45 p.m., with the evacuation canceled at the same time. 

The Grant County PUD reported several of their customers in the Soap Lake area lost power due to the fire impacting a transmission line. The utility stated they were forced to "de-energize" their Soap Lake substation, which left customers in the Soap Lake and Blue Lake areas without power. There were no reported injuries or structures destroyed in the fire.