RICHLAND — A grass fire burning near the Hanford nuclear reservation has caused temporary closures of parts of two Washington state highways.
Bureau of Land Management fire management spokesman Dennis Strange told The Tri-City Herald that the fire has burned about 3,000 acres in the Rattlesnake Hills area.
He said the fire started Thursday near the intersections of State Highways 24 and 241 and moved southwest into an area that includes BLM land, state land and private property. There were no reports of damage to any homes.
Strange says 150-200 firefighters are battling the fire.
It’s burning in a remote area outside the buffer zone on the west perimeter of the sprawling 586-square-mile Hanford reservation and does not endanger any Hanford facilities.
The Washington State Patrol says a motorcycle crash that injured both the driver and his passenger sparked the fire.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.