Ammonia warning lifted in Wenatchee

Officials in Wenatchee say ammonia that was leaking from a fruit-packing plant that burned has dissipated and people nearby no longer need to shelter in place. Crews continue to working on a wildfire that scorched 3,000 acres and burned two dozen or more structures. Chelan County Emergency Managment earlier had warned residents near the Blue Bird Inc. packing plant to “Go indoors, shut windows and doors, shut off air conditioning, and move to the inner-most room to get away from the windows.” The Blue Bird Inc. plant caught fire early today. The so-called Sleepy Hollow fire burned in the hills to the west of downtown Wenatchee on Sunday evening. Embers ignited a fire in the downtown area, at a recycling facility. The roof of that building has collapsed, officials said this morning. As many as 28 homes burned in the Broadview subdivision in what Wenatchee’s mayor called a firestorm. Evacuations were ordered near the town of Monitor, requiring residents to leave immediately. That warning was also issued to residents living in the hills west of Western Avenue, where a line of scorched earth zigzagged its way across the hills. Evacuated residents were directed to Eastmont High School, and about 200 people took shelter there overnight. The National Weather Service predicts temperatures in the upper 90s today in Wenatchee. An early-morning rainstorm helped firefighters trying to gain control of the blaze.