Fire closes highway in Grand Coulee
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 months, 3 weeks AGO
A fire near Grand Coulee Dam shut down power and closed state Route 174 Thursday morning.
COURTESY PHOTO/GRAND COULEE VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT
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. | October 9, 2025 2:54 PM
GRAND COULEE — A wildfire on the edge of town disrupted traffic on state Route 174 Thursday morning, according to a statement from the Grand Coulee Volunteer Fire Department. The fire was put out by about 9 a.m.
At 6:48 a.m., the GCVFD reported it was on the scene of a fire underneath the power lines from the Grand Coulee Dam’s 230 switchyard, located on the plateau on the west end of the dam above the town of Grant Coulee, according to the statement. The highway was closed completely at that time, but less than an hour later was opened to one-lane traffic as the fire went into mop-up.
The fire, dubbed the Fiddle Butte Fire by WildCAD, caused power to go out temporarily, but it was restored a little after 9:30.
The GCVFD did not immediately respond to calls for comment.
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