Columbia Basin fire, burning on nearly 300 acres, forces evacuations near Tyler
Jul. 26—A new wildfire near Tyler prompted evacuations Friday afternoon east of Interstate 90.
A level 3 evacuation notice was issued for an area along Columbia Basin Highway just south of the Tyler exit. The immediate evacuation area was expanded to include the area immediately east of the exit around 4 p.m.
Lower-level evacuations are issued for area further east along state Highway 904 toward Cheney.
The Columbia Basin fire is 293 acres, said Ryan Rodruck, spokesman for Washington Department of Natural Resources.
Significant ground resources have been deployed as well as air support, Rodruck said.
A type 3 incident management team is taking command of the fire, Rodruck said. It is a complex incident, so any available resources in the state of can now report to the fire.
A Red Cross evacuation center is open at Cheney High School.
Highway 904 is closed from the interstate to Ritchey Road, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.
Some structures are threatened.
David Shuey, who owns The Man-Cave Shoppe antique store and lives in the area was on his way to a doctor appointment in Spokane Friday afternoon. He didn't have much time to prepare, but had fortunately made preparations before fire season and had an emergency pack ready to go.
He said he's very worried.
"Everything is tinder dry out there," he said. "No rain for months and months."
John Nelson has property on South Moran Prairie Road which is under Level 1 evacuation. Like Shuey, he has prepared since the Gray fire last year came within four miles of his house. He has collected his essential correspondence, cut trees and put rocks around his property.
He is still concerned.
"I just came to see what the conditions were and how serious, if it threatens my property," he said. "My neighbor called me when I was doing work and he said, 'did you hear about the fire?'"
Charles Cummings lives off Carmen Road. His wife left over an hour before he did and went straight to Cheney. But he didn't want to go.
"I have a garage full of dirt bikes and hot rods. I wanted to stay," he said as he watched planes soar over the plume of smoke. "I would normally stay. But it was time to go, I guess."
Cummings' family left as soon as they started to feel the heat and ash began raining down overhead, he said.
As he continued to watch the fire from a backroad in Tyler, a plume of black erupted from behind the trees.
"That's where my place is," Cummings said.
Devrah Birchard was almost asleep watching TV when alarms started ringing. She thought she was dreaming, she said.
"It went off a second time. I saw the alert and thought, 'That's my backyard,'" Birchard said, as she sat on a trailer with her neighbors, watching the fire.
The fire was "absolutely too quick," she said — she grabbed her medication, her purse and her dog and took off. Her neighbor told her he was starting to see flames.
"I've lived here for 40 years," Birchard said. "Never seen a fire this close."
James Hanlon's reporting for The Spokesman-Review is funded in part by Report for America and by members of the Spokane community. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, please contact our newspaper's managing editor.
