Access to Columbia River north of Priest Rapids closed

HANFORD — Areas on the Columbia River north of the Priest Rapids Dam were closed on Monday to give fire crews access to the water and combat a nearby wildfire.

Firefighting aircraft pulled water from the river to combat the Silver Dollar Fire. The fire started on Sunday about 30 miles northwest of Richland and as of Tuesday afternoon had burned about 20,000 acres in Yakima and Benton counties.

Level 1 evacuation notices were sent for state Route 24 in the Barrel Springs area and Level 2 evacuations were put in place for the Gold Creek area. Road closures were put in place from state Route 240, at the Yakima Barricade, to the state Route 225 junction and from state Route 24, at the Silver Dollar Café, to the Vernita Bridge.

As of Tuesday afternoon the fire was about 60 percent contained. Officials have not been able to pinpoint an exact cause for the fire.

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.