Large Rural Brush Fire Shuts Down SR 17 East Of Ephrata

Traffic on State Route 17 near Ephrata is moving after the highway was closed for a couple of hours from a brush fire Tuesday evening.

Deputies say the fire originated at the Ephrata Gun Range and spread eastward to the edge of SR17 by 6pm. The highway was closed down between State Route 282 and State Route 28.

Eight fire departments were sent to the scene of the fire that was burning in a rural area. No evacuation notices were put in place.

Wind speeds of up to 27 mph were present in the area, according to deputies.

The fire was contained by about 6:45 pm, but SR 17 remained closed until 8 pm while crews worked along the highway.

Grant County deputies say they originally thought the fire had spread to both sides of SR 17 but discovered it did not jump the highway once the smoke cleared the area by 7:10 pm.

Fire crews finished mopping up the fire and left the scene at about 8:45 pm Tuesday.

Ephrata and Sopa Lake police as well the Washington State Patrol and Grant County Sheriff’s Office assisted in helping with the fire and handling the road closure.

According to the Grant County Sheriff’s Office, the following agencies cooperated to deal with the fire: