Crews continue to monitor Bateman Island fire as clean up work continues

Work is continuing on a wild land fire that scorched roughly 70 acres of Bateman Island.

Firefighters remain stationed at Columbia Park Trail and monitoring potential hot spots in case the fire flares to life again.

“We are trying to reinforce those control lines right now to make sure that the heat that is in there does not sneak out and get into the green area,” said Capt. Adam Hardgrove.

Flames appeared on the island at 6 p.m. Sunday, and fire departments and districts from across the region gathered to battle it. By Monday afternoon most of the fire was contained.

The exact cause of the fire remains unknown, but it likely was started by human hands.

Richland leases the 160-acre island from the Army Corps of Engineers. It is heavily used by walkers, hikers, birdwatchers and others.

While the island appears green from the Columbia Park Trail, Hardgrove said the are several burned areas.

“It’s a big mess,” he said in a Wednesday morning update on the first. “We just want to make sure that it is out completely.”

The continuing risk of fire led Richland officials to close the island indefinitely.

Firefighters are working on protecting the culturally-sensitive areas, such as tribal burial sites.

“We’re going to protect them as we find them,” he said.

A hose line was deployed across the island allowing firefighters to get water to anywhere on the island without driving trucks into potentially ecologically or culturally sensitive areas.

Workers are also continuing to cut down burnt trees.

People are likely to continue seeing smoke above the island, but animals remain on the there, Hardgrove said..

“I’ve already seen about six or seven deer down there,” he said.

A set of similar fires in August 2001 burned 80 percent of the vegetation and about 90 acres. The fires left the island closed to visitors for nearly two years.

This story was originally published July 19, 2017 at 12:42 PM with the headline "Crews continue to monitor Bateman Island fire as clean up work continues."