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Fire report: Wildfires slow down with cooler weather

by JOEL MARTIN
Staff Writer | May 22, 2024 7:01 PM

COLUMBIA BASIN — Perhaps due to the cool, wet weather, wildfires were nowhere to be found Wednesday in the Columbia Basin. In Kittitas County, the Pumphouse Fire, which had been discovered Monday near Ryegrass Summit on Interstate 90, was controlled at 3 acres. 

A few prescribed fires continued to burn in Stevens and Ferry counties. The largest were the 300-acre Mima Mounds Fire and the 208-acre Bitterbrush Fire, both on the Spokane Reservation.

These other wildfires were burning around Washington Wednesday afternoon:

• The Page Road Fire, discovered Sunday, was still at 150 acres about 19 miles northeast of Pasco, according to the most recent information from the National  Interagency Fire Center. The cause of the blaze was unknown, and containment information was not available.

• The Monument Fire, discovered Sunday at Ice Harbor Dam on the Snake River about 10 miles east of Pasco, was at 80 acres Wednesday, according to the NIFC. The cause was undetermined and no containment information was available.

• The Diamondback Ridge Fire, about 17 miles southeast of Yakima near Zillah, was discovered about 11:30 a.m. Friday and held steady at 300 acres Wednesday. The cause was unknown, and containment information was not yet available.

• The Moxee Valley fire, discovered May 16 just southeast of Yakima, was still at 20 acres Wednesday, according to the NIFC’s data. The cause was unknown and containment information was not available.