Garred Road Fire sees no growth, two other local fires contained
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 3 months, 3 weeks AGO
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. | June 25, 2026 3:55 PM
COULEE CITY — Fire crews are still working on containing the Garred Road Fire, near Coulee City, which has seen very little growth, remaining at nearly 3,400 acres and is around 61 percent contained as of Thursday afternoon.
According to the Southeast Washington Interagency Incident Management Team, crews are continuing to work on mop up Thursday. A Red Flag Warning is in effect for a large portion of Washington until 9 p.m. tonight, with winds expected.
“Safety of crews, residents and protection or property remain top priorities,” Southeast Washington Incident Management Team wrote in a statement. “Please use caution while traveling in the fire area, specifically Highway 17. Crews will continue working and traveling on that roadway throughout the day.”
At around 3:30 p.m., Grant County Fire District 12 was dispatched to the Black Rock Fire near Wilson Creek and Odessa, which burned around 350 acres.
GCFD 12 requested state assistance with the blaze at around 6 p.m. Wednesday, according to the Washington State Fire Marshal. A strike and supervision team were sent to East Grant County Wednesday night.
The fire was fully contained as of 4 a.m. Thursday morning, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
Then, at about 3:45 p.m., Wednesday, Adams County Fire District 2 firefighters were dispatched to a fire, the Schrag Fire, at a farm residence on Schrag Road at milepost 194 of the eastbound lanes of I-90, GCFD 5 Battalion Chief Travis Svilar said.
As of 6:30 p.m., the fire had grown to 120 acres. ACFD 2 called for mutual aid from neighboring departments and for air support, Svilar said. Two scooper planes and two helicopters were on the scene.
The fire’s forward progress to the east was stopped by 6 p.m., Svilar said. The freeway remained open the entire time.
The home was unoccupied, according to bystanders, and county records show a different address for the property owner. Four structures were lost, Svilar said. The cause of the fire was unknown.
“There’s a fire weather watch issued through tomorrow,” Svilar said. “We were expecting (fires)… We realize that we’re about a month, month and a half ahead of schedule for fire season, but it’s here.”
According to the National Interagency Fire Center, as of Thursday, in the northwest there have been around 733 fires reported and around 57,000 acres burnt.
Across the nation, there have been nearly 35,100 fires and around 2.9 million acres scorched.
Active blazes:
4170 Tule Rd Fire: 24,180 acres. 95% contained. Started June 14. Yakima County. Undetermined cause. Estimated cost of $7.5 million.
Garred Road Fire: 3,369 acres. 61% contained. Started June 21. Human caused. Estimated cost of $4.9 million.
Kartar Fire: 11,746 acres. 95% contained. Started June 16. Okanogan County. Human caused. Estimated cost $10 million.
Tucannon Fire: 8,069 acres. 94% contained. Started June 16. Columbia County. Undetermined cause. Estimated cost of $750,000.
Upriver Fire: 213 acres. 85% contained. Started June 16. Spokane County. Human caused. Estimated cost of $3.7 million.
Fires contained this week:
Black Rock Fire: 350 acres. Started June 24. Grant County. Undetermined cause. No estimated cost available.
Mt. Toms Creek Fire: 86 acres. Started June 24. Jefferson County. Undetermined cause. No estimated cost is available.
Schrag Fire: 82.8 acres. 100% contained. Adams County. Unknown cause. Unknown cost.
Snake River: 686 acres. Started June 20. Asotin County. Undetermined cause. Estimated cost of $400,000.
Wagon Wheel Fire: 319 acres. Started June 23. Benton County. Human caused. No cost is available.
SOURCES: INCIWEB, NATIONAL INTERAGENCY FIRE CENTER, WATCHDUTY, AIRNOW.
ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Endless battle
Noxious Weed Control Board works to keep invasive plants under control
MOSES LAKE — Some of the nastiest plants in Grant County were the topic of a class led by Jay Johnson, a consultant with the Grant County Noxious Weed Control Board, Tuesday. The Noxious Weed Control Board, as its name would suggest, is tasked with keeping weeds under control in Grant County. That’s not a small job; the board’s website lists 129 species of noxious weeds that are found around Grant County. A noxious weed is defined as an invasive, non-native plant that threatens agricultural crops, local ecosystems or fish and wildlife habitat, according to the Noxious Weed Control Board. Washington state law requires that these weeds be identified and their spread kept to a minimum, if not completely eradicated. “We’re one of those agencies a lot of people don’t really understand,” Johnson said. “We’re a county office and … our funding is tax-based assessment. When you get your tax bill and you look down at all the expenses that you pay for, there we are.”
BASIN EVENTS: Oct. 16-24
COLUMBIA BASIN — Whether you feel like shopping, crafting, learning or seeing a show, there’s something happening for you this week in the Basin. Oct. 16 ‘My Family (Mi Familia)’ screening Spanning three generations, “My Family (Mi Familia)” is a heartfelt drama that follows the Sánchez family as they build their lives in East Los Angeles. Through love, hardship, triumph, and sacrifice, the film explores the immigrant experience, the strength of family bonds, and the traditions that connect one generation to the next. Lowrider show and taco truck before the screening. Sponsored by Columbia Basin Allied Arts, EDUBS C/S and the Moses Lake Creative District. $12 per person. Doors open at 6 p.m., film begins at 7 p.m. at the Moses Lake Civic Center Auditorium, 401 S. Balsam St. Tickets and info: www.cba-arts.org.
Moses Lake author encourages women to look beyond church culture norms
MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake author’s book, “A Christian Woman Striving to Live Her Faith in a Man-Controlled World,” takes aim at the role to which many churches relegate the female half of their congregations. “It’s to encourage women in the faith,” Linda Curran said. “A lot of churches say, ‘Teach Sunday school, do this, do that, but don’t (evangelize.)’" In her book, Curran recounts a time when she moved to a new community and joined a church there. She was surprised to learn that, as a new female member, she had been automatically assigned church cleaning duties. When she questioned it, she wrote, she was met with condescension and her objections were brushed aside. In other churches, she said, women who were capable of teaching were relegated to “women’s ministry.”