Silver Lake fire held to 100 acres

Thanks to quick mobilization and nearby water resources, firefighting crews were able to contain to 100 acres a grass and timber fire that broke out on Monday about three miles northwest of Cheney. While over 50 homes were put on evacuation notices, only one outbuilding was destroyed in the blaze.

Spokane County Fire District 3 Fire Chief Cody Rohrbach said the fire, which was reported at 1:10 p.m., had multiple ignition points that eventually merged into two fires centered between the interstate and Granite Road on the east. The closest and likely earliest of these was near milepost 265 just north of the Salnave exit on I-90.

"They then progressed from that point towards Spokane," Rohrbach said.

Rohrbach said District 3 crews that reached the scene first utilized the interstate as a northern boundary, making preventing the fires from crossing the freeway their top priority. Despite that, the fire did make the jump.

"It did jump I-90 three times, but the crews got right on it quickly," Rohrbach said. "It would've been really hard to contain if it got over there."

Eventually over 100 firefighters from 11 different agencies responded to the blaze, which burned grass and short timber stands at various spots along the interstate, with dry grass and pine needles helping the fire spread. The crews received aid from the air in the form of eight tankers - six single-seat Fire Bosses, one heavy air tanker and one air attack.

The Fire Bosses, which carry approximately 700 gallons of water, were able to make frequent passes over the hot spots by utilizing nearby Silver Lake to scoop up water.

"They had a turn (around) time of about four and half minutes," Rohrbach said.

The fire forced a shutdown of all eastbound lanes and one westbound lane on the interstate. Several homes near the blaze along Granite Lake Road were issued Level 3 evacuation notices. Rohrbach said some power poles were impacted in the area, with crews from Inland Power and Light making repairs to restore power after dark.

Rohrbach said they eventually were able to put a perimeter completely around the fires by utilizing natural barriers, roads and dozer and hand constructed fire lines. As of Tuesday, the fire was 100 percent boxed in and about 20 percent contained, with a number of spots within the blackened terrain along I-90 still smoking.

Crews from various agencies will remain onsite through the week to conduct mop up duty, beginning from the perimeter and working inwards. Rohrbach said a focus on Tuesday was to get some relief for District 3 crews - some of whom had been on duty all night - by transitioning to other resources provided by state mobilization.

Rohrbach said they would be "pushing hard" to take care of still smoldering areas and get complete containment before Friday, when a weather system is scheduled to move in that would bring hotter temperatures, lower humidity and possibly strong winds. So far crews were making good progress in that regards, but there was still a need for urgency.

"Hot, dry and windy, conditions which we do not need for fire," Rohrbach said.

An investigation into the cause of the fire is underway.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].