Mattawa Brushfire Destroys Home, Outbuildings, Causes Explosions & Evacuations

A home and several outbuildings were destroyed by a brushfire in Western Grant County on Monday evening.

Assistant Chief Les Sandstrom with Grant County Fire District No. 8 says the Road U Fire broke out at around 6 p.m. a few miles southwest of Mattawa.

The blaze moved swiftly in dry grass and sagebrush and quickly prompted a Level 2 evacuation notice for residents on Road U Southwest and Road 24.7 Southwest.

Sandstrom says crews worked diligently to corral the flames, which managed to destroy an unoccupied manufactured home and a pair of shop buildings before being fully corralled.

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The fire grew to approximately 15 acres and caused multiple explosions, which Sandstrom says were generated when highly-flammable materials were ignited inside the shop buildings that were destroyed.

Crews with Grant County Fire District No. 3 and Royal Slope Fire & Rescue assisted in extinguishing the blaze, and Sandstrom said there were a total of roughly 15 apparatus and dozens of personnel involved in fighting the fire.

Sandstrom added that the Grant County Fire Marshal's Office visited the site of the blaze this morning and has yet to determine a cause for the fire, which remains under investigation.