Wildfire Destroys Several Homes in Columbia River Gorge
Officials in Washington state urged people to “carefully consider” their use of fireworks on the Fourth of July weekend as crews continued to battle a wildfire that had destroyed at least 10 homes in the Columbia River Gorge in Skamania County.
The blaze, dubbed the Tunnel 5 Fire, broke out on July 2 and spread quickly due to “hot, windy conditions coupled with extreme terrain,” according to Southeast Washington Interagency Incident Management Team.
By Tuesday morning, it had burned through 533 acres and was just 5-percent contained, officials said. At least 189 personnel were assigned to the fire and more resources were expected later that day, “including hand crews, heavy equipment, and five strike teams of fire engines,” they added.
Northwest Interagency Coordination Center said 10 residences had been destroyed by the fire and another 250 were under threat.
This footage from Monday shows firefighting aircraft dropping water on and around blaze.
The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office said crews were clearing overgrown vegetation, hosing water around homes to hold back the fire, and “watching for burning debris rolling down slope” so it could be quickly extinguished.
Due to the high risk of fire and lack of resources, the Skamania County Sheriff urged people “to do everything possible to avoid igniting new fires” and to “carefully consider” their use of fireworks on the Fourth of July weekend.
The cause of the fire was under investigation. Credit: Green Oregon via Storyful
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