Emergency declared in Asotin County because of fires

The Asotin County Commission issued an emergency declaration Friday afternoon in response to wildfires that continued to progress after being started by lightning Wednesday.

The Dry Gulch Fire is growing 5,000 acres a day and moving southwest, said Eric Johnson, fire behavior analyst for Northwest 7 Type 2 Incident Management Team, during a public meeting Friday evening at the Asotin County Fire District Station.

Northwest Team 7 Operations Chief Chris Orr said the fire burned “actively” through Thursday night near Harlow Ridge and firefighters are bringing it down to 43 Road. The fire is moving west toward 42 Road.

The fire has spread across 24,730 acres and is 5 percent contained, according to a news release from Northwest Team 7, lead by Jason Loomis, who took over the Dry Gulch Fire at 6 a.m. Friday. The release also said there are 380 personnel assigned to the blaze.

The fire absorbed the Lick Creek Fire, according to the team’s news release. The fire spread through the south and west of its original area; current and forecast weather conditions are expected to exacerbate its spread.

Trees are very receptive to burning because of the lack of moisture in them, which is the result of the hot and dry weather, Eric Johnson said.

He said residents should expect the smoky fire conditions to persist until at least Tuesday because of the weather conditions — which are forecast to stay around 13 percent humidity with little wind. There will be a cold front Wednesday that might help cool the fire.

The Silcott Fire, which started near Silcott Grade Road, west of Clarkston, spread across 8,633 acres and is 80 percent contained, said Tom Hatley, operations chief of the Southeast Washington Type 3 Incident Management Team 2.

The fire has not damaged any structures, but 150 are threatened, according to a news release from the Southeast Washington Interagency Incident Management Team.

The incident management team is preparing to hand the fire over to local fire districts, said Southeast Team 2 Incident Cmdr. Leonard Johnson.

Evacuation levels have changed, said Shawn Christianson, liaison officer for Northwest Team 7. Peola and the Clarkston Heights are in Level 1, Cloverland is in Level 2 and Asotin Creek is in Level 3.

Residents in Level 1 no longer have to have a bag packed, said Grace DeBusschere, public information officer for the Southeast Washington Incident Management Team. Those in Level 2 should be prepared to leave, and Level 3 is the evacuation stage.

The fire has stayed inside containment lines set by firefighters. They are now mopping around the containment lines by drenching the ground with water until it is no longer holding heat, DeBusschere said.

At one point, the incident management team believed the Silcott Fire was sealed up, but then wind blew the fire over a hill and it rapidly spread, said District 1 Fire Chief Noel Hardin. The fire burnt through crops, fence posts and power poles.

Hardin said the community support has been incredible and he is grateful to community members who have sent first responders food and drinks.

“(Firefighters) got their butts kicked once ... they got it kicked again,” Hardin said, “they got their butts kicked so much, they didn’t have asses at the end of the day.”

Carral may be contacted at jcarral@lmtribune.com or on Twitter at @jaycecarral.