Waterville, Washington – A 3-alarm brush fire broke out west of SR 172 and Roads 11 NW and E NW in Douglas County around three-o’clock in the afternoon on Saturday, July 11, 2020.

The cause is unknown at the time of this post but we know there have been several RED FLAG WARNINGS issued by the NWS Spokane today and will go into the late hours of the night.

The fire behavior has been extreme with a high rate of spread as it jumps severeal local roadways and burning everything in its path.  At one time, the fire was said to be bumping up against major SR 172, which prompted immediate closures of this road along with many others and Level 1 and 2 evacuations.

Currently, the fire has scorched 2,000 acres and has a 0% containment status.

==============  Evacuations in effect =================

Level 2:

  • area south of McNeil Canyon Road near the fire
  • SR 172 at Rd 8 to McNeil Canyon Road
  • McNeil Canyon Road to the Town of Mansfield

It has been reported that only two outbuildings have been lost. No assessments of damaged structures have been reported as of yet, as the fire is burning out-of-control.

State mobe has been granted and requested by the Incident Commander. We are still waiting for what units/agencies will be deployed.  Stay tuned for more future updates!

Resources include:  Grant County Sheriff Office, WSDOT and local fire agencies.

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(c) 2020 NW Fire Blog – Updated 1838 PT – 7/11/2020