Target shooters sparked Badger Canyon fire that threatened homes west of Kennewick

Nearly 200 acres of wildland burned after some target shooters sparked a blaze near Badger Canyon Road Friday afternoon.

Nine Tri-City fire agencies were called to fight the quickly spreading flames about 5:30 p.m. Friday.

Along with the help of farmers, who used tractors to plow fire breaks, they were able to keep the flames away from nearby homes. It was about 90 percent contained by midday Saturday.

Pasco Fire Chief Ed Dunbar said one outbuilding and a camper were destroyed, but there were no houses damaged.

Smoke from the blaze worried some homeowners in West Richland who feared the wildfire was headed their way, Benton County Fire District 4 said on Facebook. But fire officials assured them no evacuations were needed, though some homes on rural roads in the canyon were asked to evacuate.

Firefighters continued to monitor the fire through the night to make sure it didn’t jump the fire breaks. Northbound traffic in the area was closed through midnight to let firefighters work.

The low relative humidity and breezy conditions helped fuel the fire.

Benton County Fire District 1 were helped by crews from Benton fire districts 2 and 4, Franklin County fire districts 3 and 5, the Kennewick, Pasco and Richland fire departments and West Benton Fire Rescue.

The firefighters had problems with looky-loos coming into the area, and asked people to keep away.

“This is very dangerous, causes accidents and takes resources away from the fire to deal with it,” the Benton County Sheriff’s Office posted on its Facebook page.

Just one person was reported injured on Saturday.

Benton County sheriff’s deputies are trying to find the people who were seen shooting in the area before the fire started.

Anyone with information about cause of the fire is asked to call Benton County Sheriff’s Office at 509-628-0333.

This story was originally published July 24, 2020 at 8:14 PM.