Winds Spread West Plains Grass Fire

Strong winds spread a grass fire on the West Plains and helped knock out power to thousands of residents on Sunday.

Spokane County Fire District 10 officials responded to a small grass fire near 8400 W. Greenwood at 11 a.m.

But district officials eventually needed the help of five other firefighting and emergency units to quell what became an 80-acre grass fire.

“It was definitely a wind-driven fire,” said Nick Scharff, District 10’s deputy fire chief. “At 11:30, we clocked a 51 mph gust of wind.”

The fire approached eight different structures but none was destroyed, Scharff said. The blaze finally was extinguished at 4:30 p.m.

Cause of the fire is under investigation.

Meanwhile, from the Palouse to Colville, Wash., and throughout parts of North Idaho, between 2,000 and 3,500 Avista customers lost power during the day, utility crews estimated, due to downed trees and branches on power lines and poles.

Crews had restored power to nearly all customers by early evening.