Crews battle wildfire
Firefighters in Stevens County and crews from the Department of Natural Resources spent the last evening of their Labor Day weekend fighting a wildfire near Valley, Wash.
Reports of a fire that grew to 75 to 100 acres began coming in about 4 p.m., said Rette Bidstrup, a dispatch coordinator for DNR.
Monday night firefighters worked to keep the Wright Valley fire from cresting a ridge, and fire officials will reassess today how many crews will be needed at the fire line.
Although the area is sparsely populated, officials said there are homes near the fire.
Republic, Wash.
Woman killed in motorcycle crash
A Clarkston woman was killed and her husband injured after a deer ran in front of their motorcycle Sunday afternoon on state Highway 20 near Republic.
Philip T. Geiger, 56, was eastbound on the highway around 4:08 p.m. when a deer ran onto the road. Geiger’s 2006 Harley-Davidson struck the deer, according to Washington State Patrol.
His wife, 63-year-old Patricia Geiger, was pronounced dead at Deaconess Medical Center. Both were wearing helmets, according to the WSP.
Philip Geiger was taken to Ferry County Memorial Hospital. He was reported in stable condition Monday.
WHITE SWAN, Wash.
Dog attack sends four to hospitals
Four members of a family required hospital treatment after being attacked by a dog after it broke loose from its chain in their yard, the Yakima County Sheriff’s Office said.
A sheriff’s deputy shot and killed the dog after it approached her when she answered a call for help Sunday morning at the family’s home on the Yakama Indian Reservation north of White Swan.
Two of the victims were girls ages 2 and 3. The youngest was sent to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for stitches from a plastic surgeon. The other girl, her mother and a grandfather were treated at Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital for bite wounds, a nursing supervisor said.
The Sheriff’s Office said the dog appeared to be a Rottweiler mix.
LONG BEACH, Wash.
Fishing boat sinks, killing two
A Seattle-based fishing vessel capsized off the coast of Long Beach over the weekend, a Coast Guard official said Monday. Two members of the five-person crew died.
Petty Officer Shawn Eggert said a faulty pump may have caused the Papa George, a seiner that had been fishing for sardines, to take on too much water.
When the crew discovered the hold and engine room were flooded, they made plans to get off the boat Sunday, but it tipped onto its side and sank rapidly, Eggert said.
Two people managed to get into a skiff and rescued a crew member who had fallen into the water. They could not reach the remaining two crew members, a woman and man, Eggert said.
Boise
Climber rescued after hair caught
A rock climber was rescued by firefighters Sunday night after her hair became entangled in her descending device, leaving her dangling 20 feet above the ground for about a half-hour.
The woman, whose long black hair reaches the middle of her back, was not injured. She declined to give her name or age, but seemed to be in her 20s.
About 6:30 p.m., the woman was rappelling down a 65-foot cliff next to the Boise River along Idaho Highway 21 when her hair got caught in her rappelling device, said Steve Rasulo, a Boise Fire Department battalion chief.
She was not wearing a helmet and her hair seemed to be loosely braided, firefighters said.
Boise firefighters rigged a rappelling system on the cliff above the woman. Firefighter Shane Nelson then lowered himself to her, attached her to his system, cut off a small section of her hair and rappelled them both to the ground safely about 7 p.m.