Fires Strike Soap Lake and Schawana Areas Over Weekend

A wildfire in the Beverly/Schawana area damaged four buildings and forced evacuations for residents in the area Sunday night. Grant County Sheriff PIO Kyle Foreman says the blaze started around 9:00 p.m.

"Fire units arrived and had a fast-moving fire in some very heavy sagebrush and grass. They did have to evacuate several homes in the area. Ultimately that fire consumed about 30 acres and also temporarily shut down SR 243 as firefighters were working on the road to keep the fire from jumping the roadway which they successfully did."

Foreman says there were no injuries in the incident and SR 243 is back open.

On Friday, a blaze burned nearly 1,100 acres five miles Southeast of Soap Lake. Foreman says it started in a field and threatened area homes and some residents were evacuated.

"It stalled when it got to a very wide irrigation canal and irrigated crop fields so firefighters were able to stop it at that point. They spent several hours during the night doing mop up work. Nobody was hurt during that fire and the cause is still under investigation."

There was also a fire in the Omak area that shut down SR 155 over the weekend.