Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
A small shed on the Leo Schmierer homestead burns Monday, but the remaining buildings on the property were saved thanks to the hard work of firefighting crews.
A helicopter carries a load of water to dump on the wildfire burning since Monday north of Odessa, just one of many firefighting vehicles and crews called into action following lightning strikes throughout the area.
Smoke billows up as sage brush and grasses burn out of control. Several farmsteads were evacuated for safety reasons, but there were no reports of injuries.
Sustained winds of 22 - 25 miles per hour Monday took what is now called the Apache Pass fire from about 200 acres Sunday evening to more than 18,000 as of Tuesday morning. Extremely dry conditions in the scablands contributed to the blaze.
All available firefighters from the Odessa area responded to the blaze, which at its closest point to Odessa was burning Monday afternoon about 12 miles north of Odessa, just north of Eagle Springs Road.
Crews from Wilbur, Creston, Davenport and Harrington as well as all area rural stations have also been called out. The Washington State Emergency Operations Center (EOC) added the Apache Pass fire to its mobilization as of 6:30 p.m. Sunday. The EOC has gone to a Phase III activation in reponse to the multiple wildfires burning not just in Lincoln County but in the Wenatchee, Kittitas and Grand Coulee areas as well. An earlier fire in Klickitat County has also received attention from the EOC.
The winds were taking flames quickly in the east-northeast direction, and crews were having a difficult time anticipating the advance. Limited road access to the areas where the fire was most active made firefighting even more challenging.
At one point Monday, at least 100 homes in the fire’s path were under Level 3 evacuation orders, which is mandatory.
Even though more than 4,000 lightning strikes were recorded in the Saturday night storm that passed through Central Washington, starting more than 80 fires, the cause of the Apache Pass fire has not been officially determined.
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