MLFD responds to multiple fires, statewide fire season continues
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 3 months AGO
Firefighters put out four brush fires along I-90 in Moses Lake Wednesday evening, including one that threatened homes in the Montlake neighborhood.
JOEL MARTIN/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | August 3, 2023 6:17 PM
MOSES LAKE — One building was seriously damaged when a series of four fires sprang up along I-90 Wednesday evening, according to Moses Lake Fire Department Battalion Chief Dave Hollie.
The fires were reported a little before 7 p.m., according to the wildfire alert website Watch Duty. All of the fires were in town and on the north side of I-90, Hollie said.
Only a couple of acres were burned at most, Hollie said. One fire, between the Division Street overpass and the lake shore, affected about a dozen houses in the Montlake neighborhood.
“Just one outbuilding (had) serious damage to it,” Hollie said. “But lots of landscaping, lots of fencing and smoke damage inside of houses.”
“We didn't lose any houses and nobody got hurt,” he added. “So yeah, that's a win.”
The firefighters had the conflagration under control in about half an hour, Hollie said, and were off the scene in about three hours. Crews returned to the scene Thursday morning to mop up hot spots that had popped up in grass clippings, he said. The cause of the fires is still under investigation.
“The fire department (extends) its great gratitude to the citizens in that neighborhood for coming to their neighbors in their time of need, and helping each other,” Hollie said.
These wildfires were also burning in Washington Thursday, according to the NIFC:
• Finch, South Russell Street and West Sunset Boulevard, Spokane: 5 acres. Fire discovered Aug. 3. Containment and cost information not available.
• Dishman, about 3 miles east of Spokane: 2 acres. Fire discovered Aug. 3. Containment and cost information not available.
• Jennings, about 15 miles south of Spokane: 5 acres. Fire discovered Aug. 3. Containment and cost information not available.
• McGowen, about 15 miles west of Goldendale: 5 acres. Fire discovered Aug. 3. Containment and cost information not available.
• West Anderson, about 1 mile northeast of Cheney: 35 acres. Fire discovered Aug. 2. 0% contained.
• Margarita, about 18 miles north of Ocean Shores, 20 acres. Fire discovered Aug. 2. Containment and cost information not available.
• West Hallett, about 2 miles west of Spokane: 155 acres. Fire discovered July 31. 60% contained. Costs estimated at $890,000.
• Eagle Bluff, on the Canadian border outside Oroville: 16,110 acres. 30% contained. Costs estimated at $4,900,000.
• I-5 Milepost 206, about 10 miles north of Everett: 16 acres. Fire discovered Aug. 1. Containment and cost information not available.
• Sourdough, about 60 miles east of Bellingham: 38 acres. Fire discovered July 29. 0% contained. Costs estimated at $4,000,000.
• Beaver Valley, about 33 miles southeast of Port Angeles: 3 acres. Fire discovered Aug. 1. Fire discovered July 31. Containment and cost information not available.
• NS-198, about 56 miles west of Yakima: 2 acres. Fire discovered July 31. Containment and cost information not available.
• Pine Hollow, about 8 miles west of Yakima: 30 acres. Fire discovered July 31. Containment and cost information not available.