Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Fire burning along Interstate 90, near Salnave Road and Tyler exits
A line of traffic heading westbound on state Highway 904 stretches through Cheney. With traffic backed up for miles and the Gray Fire growing along Interstate 90, transportation officials are detouring traffic through Edwall and Reardan.
A burned truck sits in front of a destroyed Freeman Road home near Silver Lake, between Cheney and Medical Lake, on Saturday morning, Aug. 19.
EDWALL - With the Gray Fire growing along Interstate 90 between Cheney and Medical Lake, state transportation officials are detouring traffic through Lincoln County.
With the fire active along Interstate 90 near the Tyler, Salnave Road and Four Lakes exists, the roadway was closed at Geiger Heights and Sprague Saturday afternoon, Aug. 19.
Westbound traffic was being diverted onto U.S. Highway 2 west through Airway Heights to Reardan, the south on state Highway 231 through Edwall, to just west of the Sprague interchange on I-90. Eastbound traffic was detoured at Sprague to Highway 231 to Reardan, then east on U.S. Highway 2.
Meanwhile, a miles-long traffic jam filled state Highway 904, also known as First Street, through Cheney for several hours.
At last unofficial count, fire crews estimated the Gray Fire had destroyed 185 structures and consumed between 8,000 and 9,500 acres, but that report was posted early Saturday, Aug. 19, and the fire has been growing in dry grass, sage steppe and timber.
At least one person perished; details on the deceased have yet to be released.
An infrared flight is planned overnight tonight to get a new size estimate of the fire.
A Type II Incident Management Team is scheduled to arrive today to manage the fire, according to Erik Keller, state Department of Natural Resources spokesman.
That team takes over management at 10 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 20.
This evening, the fire will continue to be managed by the state.
Keller said they will continue to provide updates on the fire and evacuation notices, but can't specifically say when people who evacuated can go home.
"We want people to get back into their homes when they can do it safely," Keller said.
A social media hashtag, #grayfire, has been set up for those who access information via social media.
Other fires
At least two other fires were burning Friday night and Saturday in the region.
The Winona Fire had claimed more than 5,000 acres in central Whitman County, southeast of Sprague. And the Oregon Road Fire had charred more than 8,000 acres in the Elk area of northern Spokane County.
Roger Harnack is the owner/publisher of Free Press Publishing. Having grown up Benton City, Roger is an award-winning journalist, photographer, editor and publisher. He's one of only two editorial/commentary writers from Washington state to ever receive the international Golden Quill. Roger is dedicated to the preservation of local media, and the voice it retains for Eastern Washington.
Reader Comments(0)