FIRE REPORT: Ephrata area fire shuts down SR 17
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 2 years, 2 months AGO
The charred ground is all that remains of the fast-growing – and fast-extinguished – Marksman Road Fire that closed SR 17 near Ephrata Tuesday.
R. HANS MILLER/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. | July 5, 2024 3:10 AM
EPHRATA — The Marksman Road fire, which blazed up quickly east of Ephrata on Tuesday and closed State Route 17 for a time, was contained quickly thanks to a lot of interagency cooperation, according to Grant County Fire District 13 Chief Jim Stucky.
“It was a fast-moving and pretty intense fire,” Stucky said. “It started at the gun range … and then traveled toward Highway 17 at a pretty rapid pace. We were able to get it under control before it crossed over 17. They did a little backburn with help from District 7 and basically all of Grant County. We called an all-call to come help us out.”
Agencies pitching in included Grant County fire districts 7, 5, 3, 4 and 12, as well as the Ephrata and Moses Lake fire departments, Soap Lake and Ephrata police and the Grant County Sheriff’s Office.
The fire started at about 6 p.m. and was fully contained by 6:45, according to a statement from GCFD 13. State Route 17 was closed until about 8 p.m. while firefighters worked alongside the road.
The fire burned 317 acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Stucky said the cause of the fire was still under investigation.
The 4,758-acre Pioneer Fire on the eastern shore of Lake Chelan was 14% contained Tuesday at 4,820 acres, according to the NIFC. The cause was undetermined, and suppression costs were estimated at $35 million.
The Joe Barker Fire, which popped up Tuesday in northern Walla Walla County about 43 miles northeast of Pasco, was discovered a little before 8 a.m. and appeared to have been contained at 30 acres by noon, but went active again and spread to 60 acres by afternoon.
These other fires were also burning in Washington Tuesday, according to the NIFC:
• The 1980 Slide Ranch Fire, discovered June 22 about 20 miles southwest of Yakima, was 90% contained Tuesday at 3,103 acres. The fire was human-caused, and costs were estimated at $4 million.
• The Dearinger Fire about 40 miles northeast of Everett was 80% contained Tuesday at 48 acres. The costs were estimated at $960,000.
• The Diamondback Ridge Fire, near Zillah in the Yakima Valley, had burned 300 acres since its discovery May 17. Cost and containment information was not available.
• The Gold Creek Fire, discovered June 22 in the Methow Valley about 31 miles southwest of Omak, was fully contained at 278 acres Tuesday, Costs were estimated at $1.7 million. The cause of the blaze was undetermined.
• The Mutual Aid 20151 Fire, discovered June 27 just a few miles southwest of Clarkston, remained at 50 acres Tuesday. Cost and containment information was not yet available.
• The Neff Road Fire, discovered June 15 about 20 miles northeast of Pasco, remained at 250 acres Tuesday. It was fully contained and costs were estimated at $5,000.
• The River View Fire, discovered June 7 about 3 miles north of Yakima, remained at 10 acres Tuesday. The fire was caused by human activity. Information about containment and cost was not available.
• The Seven Dairy Spring Fire, discovered June 30 in Lincoln County about 20 miles northeast of Odessa, held steady at 28.3 acres Tuesday. Cost and containment information was not available.
• The South Fork Fire, about 35 miles west of Yakima, had burned about 27 acres since its discovery June 27. The cause was natural. Costs were estimated at $1 million.
Prescribed burns were underway at the Niles Sno-Park on SR 410 between Yakima and Mount Rainier, near the Beehive reservoir south of Wenatchee and at Rothrock Ridge north of Wenatchee.
Other fires are reported throughout the state have burned less than 10 acres and are not included in this report. The majority are less than 1 acre.
Air quality was good across Washington state Tuesday, according to the website AirNow, which is operated by a consortium of government agencies. The Air Quality Index, or AQI, was forecast to be good the rest of the week.
Joel Martin may be reached by email at [email protected].
ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Quincy National Night Out scales down
QUINCY — Quincy’s National Night Out was more compact this year, which worked out well, said QPD Sgt. Joe Westby, who’s in charge of event planning for the Quincy Police Department. “National Night Out is a big event, and the fact that we’re able to shrink it up is like a breath of fresh air,” Westby said. “If you're always doing the same thing, it's kind of nice to switch things up and see how it works.” National Night Out took place Thursday on the block of C Street next to the police station, a shift from previous years when it was held at Lauzier Park. The smaller space meant fewer emergency vehicles for children to explore, but it also meant less walking for attendees. Grant County Fire District 5 brought a fire truck, and the Grant County Sheriff’s Office had a patrol boat. Renew, the Grant County behavioral health agency, had a booth and so did Quincy Partnership for Youth. Veterans Operation Creation sang the national anthem, and the Quincy Animal Shelter brought kittens that piled over each other making friends with passersby. As before, the QPD served grilled hot dogs.
Quincy Police retirements leave big shoes to fill
QUINCY — There are some big shoes to fill at the Quincy Police Department. “We’re losing 48 years of experience between them,” Quincy Police Chief Ryan Green said at the retirement party for Capt. Jorge Trujillo and Det. Damon Powell Thursday. Trujillo, who grew up in Sunnyside, has been with QPD for 19 years, he said, coming on as a patrol officer fresh out of the military. From there he served as a field training officer, a detective and finally captain. “I consider him my left-hand man,” Green said. “He runs the operations side of the house … He knows the agency very well, and he knows the community.” Trujillo has some projects around the house to tackle now that he’s retired, he said.
Big fun on a small scale
Wheat Land Communities’ Fair opens Thursday
RITZVILLE — The Wheat Land Communities’ Fair isn’t as big or as flashy as some of the county fairs around central Washington, but the folks who keep it going like it just the way it is. “It’s somewhere you can go and get an old-time traditional feeling, and you’re comfortable letting your kids roam the grounds and experience all that it has to offer,” said Board Member Lori Williams. “It’s more of a feeling than (one) specific thing,” The fair starts Thursday in Ritzville and runs through Sunday. Starting Friday, the 56th Ritzville Rodeo will take place alongside the fair at the rodeo grounds. This year the entertainment budget was expanded, Williams said, to be able to offer more fun that’s covered by the cost of admission. For the kids, there’s face painting, balloon art, Lego crafts, races, contests and games. Children can also ride on a little train towed around the fairgrounds behind a tractor.