Update: I-82 near Tri-Cities reopens hours after fire jumps Yakima River and highway
Both lanes of Interstate 82 were shut down between Benton City and Prosser on Monday afternoon and evening as firefighters battled a blaze that jumped the highway and river.
The eastbound lanes reopened shortly after 9 p.m. Monday but westbound lanes did not reopen for about another hour after debris from an earlier crash in the thick smoke was cleared, according to social media posts.
As of 9 p.m. Monday, about 1,300 acres had burned and the fire was about 60% contained, said Jenna Kochenauer, of Benton County Fire District 1.
A fresh strike team of firefighters was expected to arrive Tuesday morning.
She said then that fences and utility poles were going to burn through the night, with several haystacks expected to smolder for days.
Benton County Fire District 2 Captain Mike McKenna told the Herald earlier that the fire started near Old Inland Empire and Knox Road and was spread quickly by the wind.
It jumped the Yakima River and was threatening the four-lane divided highway that’s the main westbound route to Yakima and Seattle from the Tri-Cities and a key eastbound route from the Yakima Valley to Oregon.
The state authorized help from the Washington State Fire Services Resource Mobilization Plan late Monday afternoon to help combat the fire, according to a news release from the state.
Helicopters also were used to drop water on areas of the fire, said Kochenauer.
Residents of the area had been told to be ready to evacuate, if needed, but that order lifted at 7 p.m.
The cause of the fire is unknown at this time.
I-82 was shut down in both directions about six miles east of Prosser. The Old Inland Empire highway in that area also was closed.
The confusion on the highway led to reports of wrong-way crashes as impatient drivers tried to find other routes around the blocked lanes.
Eastbound was closed at exit 88 at Gibbon Road, and westbound is closed at exit 93, Yakitat Road, according to Washington Department of Transportation.
Benton County is currently listed as “very high” fire risk going into the Independence Day holiday.
On Friday, crews battled a large fire just south of Kennewick near Bob Olson Parkway. That fire may smolder for days as it involved a two-story stack of cleared brush and vegetation.
