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

2 outbuildings burn in wildfire near Deep Creek on Sunday evening

By Kip Hill and Quinn Welsch The Spokesman-Review

Two outbuildings and 109 acres of farmland burned near the Deep Creek area in a fast-moving wildfire Sunday evening.

The blaze, which scorched a 10-foot-wide swathe of grass along U.S. Highway 2 and sent a plume of smoke over the West Plains after 5 p.m., prompted evacuations and road closures. Most of the immediate evacuation orders had been lifted by 7 p.m., said Guy Gifford, a spokesman for the Washington Department of Natural Resources.

The fire was reported a little before 5 p.m. Multiple agencies, including Spokane County Fire District 10, Spokane County Fire District 3, the Fairchild Air Force Base Fire Department and the Department of Natural Resources, responded to the fire. Eight firefighting planes were initially called in to assist, said Gifford.

Responding firefighters were able to stop the fire’s forward progress about an hour after the fire was first reported, Gifford said.

Highway 2 headed east was closed briefly between Woods and Brooks roads. The Cheney Arena was opened as a shelter for livestock on Sunday evening, according to Spokane County Fire District 3.