Northrup Fire 65% contained; evacuation notices lifted

All evacuation notices for the Northrup Fire were lifted at 6 p.m. Sunday, according to a Grant County Sheriff’s Office alert.

The fire was 65% contained and burned 252 acres, according to a release from the Southeast Washington Type 3 Interagency Team. Steamboat Rock State Park and state Route 155 were open Sunday, as well. No known structures were lost and there were no reported injuries. The cause was under investigation.

The blaze started at about 5:45 p.m. Thursday along state Route 155, near Northrup Canyon Road, the release said. It was burning grass and sagebrush near Electric City, the State Fire Marshal’s Office stated in a release Friday. Level 2 and 3 evacuations were in effect.

Winds expected Sunday would give containment lines a chance to demonstrate their ability to hold the fire at its current border, the release on Sunday stated. If successful, resources were prepared to transition the fire back to local firefighters. Firefighters were mopping up, with unburned areas in the perimeter continuing to burn, leading to smoke. Air quality updates are available at wasmoke.blogspot.com.

Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste authorized the mobilization of state firefighting resources at 7:30 a.m. Friday at the request of Grand Coulee Fire Chief Ryan Fish.

Southeast Washington Type 3 Interagency Incident Management Team 2 took command of the fire at 8 p.m. Friday and was working with the Washington State Patrol-Fire Marshal’s Office for the state mobilization.

Those involved included two hand crews, 13 engines, two water tenders, one helicopter and 103 firefighters.