Soap Lake water infrastructure protected by firefighters on July 4

SOAP LAKE — The City of Soap Lake is thanking Grant County Fire District 7 and mutual aid partners after firefighters prevented the Maple Street Fire from reaching critical water infrastructure during the Fourth of July holiday. 

The fire burned approximately 250 acres on July 4, threatening homes, city property and the municipal water reservoir located above Soap Lake.  

According to Public Works Director Eli Olson, firefighters stopped the blaze less than 50 yards from infrastructure that helps operate the city’s drinking water system. 

“Thank you very much. You guys did an awesome job getting it shut down and protecting the city’s assets on that hill and the reservoir,” Olson said of the department’s response. 

While the reservoir itself stores water, Olson said the site also contains electronic controls and sensors that monitor water levels and automatically regulate the city’s pumps. If those systems had been damaged, public works crews would have been forced to manually operate the water system until repairs could be completed. 

“If the fire would have gotten to the reservoir, there’s a high probability that we would have had damage to our control systems,” Olson said. “Then we would have had staffing on 24/7 to manually run the system.” Olson said Soap Lake would not have lost access to drinking water, but city employees would have needed to continuously monitor water levels and manually turn pumps on and off around the clock to maintain service. 

With a staff of six employees, public works could have managed the emergency operation, Olson said, though it would have placed a significant strain on personnel and city resources. 

The close call, he said, underscored the importance of Grant County Fire District 7’s work during a busy holiday weekend. Firefighters and volunteers spent long hours battling the Maple Street Fire while also responding to the Blue Lake Fire. 

“On behalf of the City of Soap Lake and Public Works, we’re incredibly grateful for everything they did,” Olson said. “Their actions helped protect critical infrastructure, homes and the community.”