Wildfire Prompts Evacuations For Entire Town Of Electric City

A wildfire in Northwestern Grant County sent crews scrambling and placed numerous homes on high alert late Wednesday afternoon.

The Grand Coulee Volunteer Fire Department says firefighters responded to reports of flames in dry grass and sagebrush at the base of a rocky hillside along State Route 155 (SR-155) near the eastern edge of Electric City at around 3:15 p.m.

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The fire, which was dubbed as the Silver Fire, was spreading rapidly up the slopes in breezy conditions and immediately prompted the issuance of a Level 2 evacuation notice for the entire town of Electric City, as well as dozens of residences in the Delano Heights neighborhood near Grand Coulee about 45 minutes later.

Crews had gained the upper hand on the fire by 5:30 p.m. thanks to repeated water drops from helicopter and efforts to corral it on the ground.

By 6:00 p.m., all Level 2 notices had been downgraded to Level 1 Fire Advisories, and the blaze blackened approximately 100 acres before being put out.

The fire snarled traffic on both SR-155 and State Route 174 for about three hours.
Officials say the cause of the blaze is still under investigation.