State aircraft battling Conrad Fire near Naches
The Conrad Fire continues to burn out of control northeast of Naches, officials said Monday.
The fire is burning 2.5 miles northeast of the town and has blackened 4,000 acres as of Monday morning, said Ben Shearer, spokesman for the Southeast Washington Incident Management Team, which took over the fire Monday morning.
The National Weather Service said a cold front is moving through the area, but the Cascades are holding back most of the moisture associated with it. Winds are expected to be a steady 15-25 mph , elevating the fire risk, the weather service said.
Shearer, who also is Pasco's fire chief, said that while the weather cooled down overnight, it was not enough to thoroughly soak the grass and sagebrush with dew, and the morning sun proceeded to dry out the fuels again.
Evacuation orders have been lifted for residents whose homes were threatened by a range fire in the Wenas Valley Monday morning.
No buildings were lost in the fire, said Shearer. While the mandatory evacuation has been lifted, people should be on alert if the fire grows and they need to move, Shearer said.
Crews are still calculating how much of the fire has been contained, and said Shearer said one of the main concerns will be winds kicking up today and potentially fanning the flames. Winds were expected to reach gusts of 30 mph, he said.
The National Weather Service has issued a red-flag warning for Eastern Yakima County, as well as Southeast Kittitas County and parts of the Columbia River Basin.