Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
AIRWAY HEIGHTS—Smoke filled the West Plains skies and city residents stood by awaiting potential evacuation recommendations due to a 260-acre fire burning grass and timber northeast of Northern Quest Casino on Monday.
Crews responded to a vegetation fire off North Old Trail Road at 4:31 p.m. Monday and remained on scene into Tuesday. As of press time, one outbuilding had burned, according to Guy Gifford of the Department of Natural Resources. The fire had been controlled, but 0% containment had been reached as of Tuesday morning.
Crews had yet to complete a trail around the fire at press time.
“Crews will be working on creating a line (around the fire) and protecting structures,” Gifford said.
A Level 2 evacuation notice was given to residents in the area east of Hayford Road, west of Spotted and Indian Bluff Roads, north of Trails and Deno Roads and south of Newkirk Road.
“About 11 structures were in this core evacuation zone,” Gifford said.
The evacuation notice was elevated to Level 3 later Monday, but reduced back to Level 2 Tuesday morning, Gifford noted.
Level 2 evacuations means residents within the notice area should be ready to evacuate if they feel the need to. A Level 3 means that residents are strongly recommended to evacuate.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. No injuries were reported.
Strong winds affected crews’ ability to fight the fire.
“Wind was a factor last night in causing the fire to get large,” Gifford said.
Flint, Trail and Old Trail Roads were all closed by authorities in response to the fire, but each road had been re-opened by Tuesday morning.
Fire agencies from Spokane, Cheney, Airway Heights, Fire District No. 3, Fire District No. 8 and Fire District No. 10 responded to the fire, per a social media post from Fire District No. 8’s page.
“It was a county-wide response, like all the fires were yesterday,” Gifford said.
The fire caused an anxious post-Labor Day night for many residents.
“(I) hate being on edge for every fire in this area,” wrote one resident in a community Facebook group Monday evening.
“Feeling uneasy at this point,” posted another resident in the early morning hours Tuesday.
Other residents offered words of encouragement or support.
“I hope everyone is doing good from last night, and thank you to first responders,” one resident posted in the Facebook group.
Residents affected by fires can call the American Red Cross Virtual Temporary Evacuation Point for shelter assistance at 509-670-5331.
UPDATE: Evacuation notices were lifted on this fire by Thursday morning.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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