Fire near Soap Lake destroys structures, recreation equipment

SOAP LAKE — A fire destroyed a house, an outbuilding and camping trailers at two homes Wednesday afternoon, about two miles southeast of Soap Lake.

Grant County Fire District 7 Chief Kirk Sheppard said the fire, which started at 915 Road 19 NE, was very destructive for its size.

“We lost a shed, two campers, a boat and a five-bedroom house,” he said.

But no one was injured, he said.

The fire was reported at about 2:30 p.m. The wind was blowing about 20 mph, which helped spread the flames, Sheppard said.

The fire started in a shed behind a five-bedroom house, where no one was home, Sheppard said. The fire moved from the shed to a 14-foot trailer, then to a wood fence between two properties. It spread along the fence to a camping trailer and a boat at the neighboring residence, 967 Road 19 NE. It then burned the boat and some yard equipment stored near the camping trailer.

The fire spread to the attic of the five-bedroom house and burned its entire length, he said. The house was a total loss.

Two trees also caught fire, and flames from the trees crossed Road 19 and set fire to the edge of an alfalfa field, Sheppard said.

The neighbor was home and tried to use a garden hose to help put out the fire, he said.

“The shed, the two camp trailers and the boat were all completely burned to the ground,” Sheppard said. “It was a really devastating, bad fire.”

Crews from the Ephrata Fire Department and Grant County Fire District 7 also responded to the fire and were on the scene about four hours. Sheppard expressed gratitude for the work done by his department, and for the assistance from neighboring agencies.

“Everybody did an awesome job,” he said.

Grant County Fire Marshal Nathan Poplawski said investigators found the origin of the fire, but the cause is undetermined.