Fire burns 3,000 acres in Grant County, forcing evacuations
Published 1:30 am Tuesday, June 4, 2019
The Spokesman-Review
A fire in Grant County near the Wanapum Dam grew to over 3,000 acres overnight as it burned its way east, forcing multiple evacuations.
The fire is burning in grass and sage near the town of Beverly on the east side of the Columbia River. Mandatory evacuations were ordered to some residents living on Beverly Burke Road. The towns of Beverly, Schawana and Wanapum Village are under Level 2 evacuation notices, meaning residents should be prepared for a mandatory evacuation.
At about 8 a.m., the sheriff’s office issued mandatory evacuations for the small community of Smyrna, about 13 miles east of Beverly along Road 17 South West.
Justin Bishop, a dispatcher at the Washington Department of Natural Resource’s Central Washington Interagency Communications Center, said the fire began at about 11 p.m. on Monday south of Wanapum and quickly spread to the east, moving south of State Route 26.
The fast-moving blaze is fueled by winds reaching up to 20 mph, said Bishop, making firefighting efforts difficult.
State resources have been mobilized, joining six local fire agencies fighting the blaze. Bishop said so far, no structures have been lost.
The fire caused some power outages in the Mattawa area, the Sheriff’s Office reported. Six fire agencies are fighting the blaze, and state resources have been called to participate.
