New blaze sparked near Ellensburg
Wildfire has burned up to 10 structures
ELLENSBURG – A new wildfire near Ellensburg has scorched about 5.6 square miles and burned eight to 10 structures as crews got a handle on another damaging blaze in the state, fire officials said Sunday.
Fire spokeswoman Rose Shriner said those damage numbers were unconfirmed and she did not have details about whether they were homes or outbuildings or both. She expected they would have more details by this morning.
The Snag Canyon fire that started during a lightning storm Saturday night on a ridge north of Ellensburg has grown rapidly, the Washington Department of Natural Resources said. The fire burning in sagebrush and timber in Kittitas County was 5 percent contained.
Meanwhile, fire officials say a blaze that started Friday between Twisp and Winthrop and has burned six to eight homes is mostly contained. Firefighters have built a line all the way around the Rising Eagle Road fire, fire spokesman Brian Scott said. About 200 homes remain under an evacuation order.
“We’re making really good progress,” he said. “We’ve got firefighters out there kicking butt to get this thing buttoned up.”
It has burned about 500 acres adjacent to the much larger Carlton Complex of fires. The complex has scorched 393 square miles and was about 82 percent contained.
Although there were some new fires started by lightning in north-central Washington on Saturday, the rest were not serious and extinguished quickly.