80-acre fire north of Reardan contained

A fire burning about 8 miles north of Reardan is 100 percent lined, firefighters said Wednesday.

The so-called Fisher 231 fire, which started Tuesday evening and quickly grew to about 80 acres, forced Level 3 evacuations for anyone living north of Reardan, near Moore Road and state Highway 231, though those restrictions have since been lifted.

Guy Gifford, spokesman for Department of Natural Resource’s Northeast Washington Interagency Communication Center, said crews were able to establish a line around the entire fire to stop it from spreading and were focusing Wednesday on mopping up hot spots.

He said the fire had four water tender trucks, a bulldozer, 19 fire engines and two inmate hand crews from the Department of Corrections, making a force of about 80 firefighters.

The biggest challenges the past two days, Gifford said, were the high temperature that at times reached up to 100 degrees, and bees.

“We’ve had multiple bee stings out there today,” he said.

Other than the stings, Gifford said there have been no injuries to firefighters. No structures have been lost.