Area brush fires now at 23,500 acres

The Spartan Fire has grown to 7,500 acres as of Wednesday morning with crews gaining about 30% containment on the lightning caused fire burning near Malaga, 9 miles SE of Wenatchee. Incident Commander Eric Reiner reported crews conducted 1 ½ miles of burnout operations Tuesday night along Kingsbury Road to remove unburned grasses along the existing containment lines. Wednesday's strategy will concentrate on building lines to contain any new fire growth to the west. 160 personnel are assigned to the Spartan Fire.  There are approximately 80 structures under Level 2 evacuation levels along Colockum Road, Kingsbury Road, Moses Carr Road, Ingersoll Road, and Tarpiscan Road.   There have been no reported loss or damages to structures.  The roadblock on Malaga Alcoa Hwy is being moved to near the Ravens Wing Ranch, 5814 Colockum Rd.

The Sutherland Canyon Fire, 15 miles south of East Wenatchee near Rock Island grade and Palisades is estimated at 10,000 acres with 10% containment. Reiner said the fire was very active Tuesday and spotted over Palisades Road in the Moses Coulee area. Tuesday night, firefighters conducted roughly 600 acres of burnout operations to stop future growth to the north. Today, ground personnel will continue to build fireline with support from multiple air resources. Level 3 evacuations are now in place for the Sutherland Canyon Fire along the Palisades Road corridor beginning at the Highway 28 intersection. Level 1 evacuations are in place in the Trinidad area along Mansfield Road. Red Cross has a shelter available for evacuated residents at the Columbia Grove Covenant Church at 19 McElmurry Lane in East Wenatchee. Shelter for pets is also available at the Wenatchee Valley Humane Society in Wenatchee. There are approximately 30 structures threatened. In response to the growth of the Sutherland Fire, Grant County issued a Level 1 evacuation notice for Trinidad to Road N-NW and Baird Springs Rd east from Crescent Bar Road. Grant County Sheriff’s Information Officer Sharon Palmerton said the alert was precautionary.

NEW FIRE: Another brush fire 20 miles south of East Wenatchee that was formerly considered part of the Sutherland Canyon fires is the Straight Hollow Fire. Reiner said this fire grew substantially Tuesday to approximately 6,000 acres with 20% containment. A 50 person crew will construct containment lines where the steep and rugged terrain allows. No structures are threatened but crews will be working to protect sage grouse habitat in the area.

The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for wind and low relative humidity in effect until 8:00 p.m. tonight affecting portions of Chelan, Douglas, Grant, Lincoln and Adams Counties. Northwest winds of 8-15 mph with gusts to 20 mph throughout the morning and afternoon, increasing to 15-25 mph with gusts up to 30 mph after about 3:00 p.m.