BRIDGEPORT – An 8,000-acre wildfire burning along the Columbia River near Bridgeport destroyed two outbuildings and was threatening several homes on Sunday, fire officials said.
The wind-driven blaze in north-central Washington was about 25 percent contained by Sunday evening, said Dan Johnson, a spokesman for the Washington State Patrol’s fire protection bureau, which coordinated the initial response to the fire.
No evacuations had been ordered. Johnson said the fire was about a half-mile away from the threatened homes, which he described as mostly primary residences. “They have a pretty good line on the fire,” Johnson said. “They feel pretty confident it will hold on the east end there.”
The fire started around 4 p.m. Saturday and was believed to have been caused by a downed power line, said Melissa Gannie, a fire protection bureau spokeswoman.
In all about 100 firefighters were battling the blaze, Gannie said.
Federal Way: Police find pipe bombs in car
Police chased the driver of a stolen car spotted speeding on I-5 through Federal Way on Sunday before he dumped the car and ran, authorities said.
Several homes were evacuated for hours when officers found two pipe bombs in the vehicle, Washington State Patrol Sgt. Keith Trowbridge said.
The driver sped off when a trooper tried to stop the car after it pulled off the freeway. The suspect then left the car in the driveway of a home and fled on foot, Trowbridge said.
The trooper chased the man though backyards and into woods. When he lost sight of the suspect, troopers and Federal Way police set up a perimeter and brought in a tracking dog, but never found the man, Trowbridge said.
Meanwhile, two pipe bombs were found inside the stolen vehicle, he said.
Police and troopers evacuated seven nearby homes for several hours. Bomb technicians from both agencies arrived and detonated the pipe bombs on site, Trowbridge said.
Vancouver, Wash: Fatal argument at mall
A Vancouver man was shot to death Saturday in the parking lot of Westfield Vancouver mall following an argument over citizens band radio.
Kenneth Eichhorn, 47, died after surgery at Southwest Washington Medical Center, police said Saturday. Jon William Loveless, 44, also of Vancouver, was arrested for investigation of second-degree murder in the shooting.
Police responded about 1:30 a.m. Saturday to reports of multiple shots fired in the mall parking lot. Officers found the wounded Eichhorn in his pickup.
Loveless called 911 a short time later, reporting that he had been involved in a shooting. He was being held without bail in the Clark County Jail.
The two men apparently did not know each other, but got into an argument over CB radio before they met at the mall. Both men were armed, police said. The nature of the disagreement was not disclosed.
From Herald news services
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