A grass fire near Spokane International Airport today [Friday] has burned about 25 acres, sending smoke into the city.
Guy Gifford from the Washington Department of Natural Resources says the fire charred an area bounded by Grove Road and Sunset Highway.
“Currently the fire is knocked down. It’s not making any forward progress. We currently have it 75% trailed and crews are working to get it fully trailed around the fire," Gifford said.
He says 25 homes in the area were evacuated, but the evacuation notice was lifted shortly before 4 pm. No one was hurt and no structures are reported burned, though Gifford says the fire apparently got close to some of them.
“One of the challenges early on with the fire was the wind. We’re out in the West Plains here. We do get a lot of wind. We had gusts up to 15-20 miles an hour, which was causing some of the early fire spread," he said.
Gifford says the cause has not yet been determined. He says more than 100 firefighters from several agencies responded. Eight aircraft dropped water and retardant on the fire.