Two-alarm fire burning near Indian Canyon

A brush fire in southwest Spokane near Indian Canyon Golf Course sent clouds of smoke into the sky during rush-hour traffic Thursday afternoon. Water drops from two helicopters helped firefighters build a hasty containment line amid late afternoon winds that worried neighbors. Ben Topin, who lives on an acre above the fire along Rimrock Drive, suspects the fire started at a homeless camp. It was burning on less than 10 acres by 5:30 p.m. The fire, called the Greenwood fire, was originally estimated to be 30 acres in size but GPS coordinates put it at 15 acres. A fire line had been dug around the fire by 7:45 p.m. but Department of Natural Resources spokesman Guy Gifford said crews were hesitant to call it contained. “We have squirrely winds,” he said. More than 50 personnel are on scene Thursday evening and Gifford said crews would be there all night and all day Friday mopping up the fire. Denny York, the chief executive of nearby Greenwood Memorial Terrace Cemetery, said the fire near Indian Canyon started at 4 p.m. and burned a swath of woods about 100 yards wide. The fire ran along the railroad tracks but did not reach the cemetery grounds. Spokane County Fire District 3 crews battled a five acre brush fire south of the Medical Lake Highway near Brayton Road this afternoon. The fire was knocked down and crews were digging a line around it by 5:30 p.m., said Gifford. Below is footage from today’s fire shot from the Greenwood Memorial Terrace Cemetery. Courtesy of Dan Taylor.

Greenwood Fire from The Spokesman-Review on Vimeo.