Blaze near Wenatchee threatens wheat fields

WENATCHEE – A 2,000-acre wildfire flared anew Tuesday in the middle of a burned-over area as winds kicked up, a fire spokesman said.

Still, about 30 homes that had been put on evacuation notice earlier in the day were no longer considered threatened late Tuesday afternoon, said Washington State Patrol Trooper Greg Pressel, a spokesman for the state fire marshal’s office.

The fire, burning in grass and sage, still threatened some Douglas County wheat fields, he said. The fire was burning about five miles east of Wenatchee.

Elsewhere in Eastern Washington, two other wildfires have been contained.

Earlier Tuesday, the Douglas County fire had been estimated to be 50 percent contained but a new incident commander arrived and assessed it at 10 percent because, while water had been sprayed all around the fire, bulldozers had not yet carved a firebreak around it, Pressel said.

“It’s only burning in one spot. Bulldozers should make pretty quick duty of the fire,” Pressel said. “It’s blowing away from homes, which is good.”

The fire was first reported at 5 p.m. Monday. No cause had been determined, Pressel said.

No homes were threatened or evacuations ordered in earlier blazes in Klickitat and Benton counties, nor were injuries reported in any of the fires.

The National Weather Service issued a fire weather watch for today through Thursday evening for Klickitat, Benton, Franklin, Grant, Columbia and Walla Walla counties.

Firefighters and equipment were summoned to the Wenatchee area from Kitsap, Spokane and six other counties across the state, Pressel said.

Elsewhere, about 600 firefighters contained a wildfire Tuesday on more than 6,000 acres in Klickitat County, mostly in a steep draw near Washington State Route 14 about four miles north of Roosevelt and about 30 miles east of Goldendale.

Authorities said that fire was started by a wheat harvesting combine.

Meanwhile, in Idaho, a fire in the Salmon-Challis National Forest has grown to 600 acres, but rain and cooler weather were helping firefighters.

The Falls Creek fire east of Challis, which started late last week, was about 10 percent contained Tuesday.

Since the blaze was touched off by lightning, firefighters had been hampered in efforts to fight it because it’s in rugged, steep country with few safety zones. As a result, forest officials opted to let the fire burn within distinct boundaries to limit danger to firefighters.

They hoped to confine the fire south and west of the Lemhi Valley and north of the main Pahsimeroi Valley, according to a Salmon-Challis National Forest statement.

Officials said there was a chance the wildfire would be contained this week, although much still depends on the weather.

No homes or private property were threatened, though the fire was 4 miles south of the Morse Creek Campground. As a result of the blaze, one Forest Service road and three trails were closed: the Morse Creek Road, including the campground, the Patterson Creek Trail, the Morse Creek Trail and the Carol Creek Trail.