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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

After windstorm, Republic is safe (at least for now)

The largest bursts of wind have blown through Republic, and fire remained out of the town late this afternoon. “The day has gone marvelous,” said Republic City Councilman Larry Heming. “I don’t see any flames coming over the top of the hill. I’m happy.” Fire officials say bulldozer lines built as barriers to protect Republic appear to have held. The fire also did not jump state Highway 21 to the east, said Donnie Davis, spokesman for the nearly 950 people working at the fire. “Everything is still good toward Republic,” Davis said about 5 p.m. Fire officials were deeply concerned about the fate of Republic because of the predicted windstorm and the proximity of the 313 square-mile North Star fire. Washington National Guard troops were deployed in case a mandatory evacuation was ordered. But that hasn’t come. Even as the strongest winds pushed into Republic late this morning the downtown “looked like business as usual,” Heming said. At the Republic Brewing Company, Emily Burt added: “it isn’t over.” It remained windy late this afternoon. After two weeks of heavy smoke covering the town, closures, cancellations, low-level evacuations and false reports of mandatory evacuations, Burt knows better than to celebrate. “It’s a real strange situation. It’s exhausting feeling like something’s coming but not knowing when,” said Burt, as customers chatted in the background. “It’s tense but also boring.” That’s, in part, because most of the usual fun summer activities are off-limits. Tourists are gone. She and her husband opened the brewery about five years ago. “This should be my biggest month of the year, but it will be more like April or January,” she said. Burt said she feels safe in town. On the other hand, after the sheriff suggested on Friday that people should consider leaving, she and her husband decided to send their 8-month-old son to Spokane with her mother-in-law. “You’re just kind of in this weird in-between land,” Burt said. Burt has another reason to feel safe. The brewery is in the town’s historic fire station. “We should be pretty good if there are old firemen’s ghosts hanging out,” she said.