Homes threatened in wildfire east of Cheney

A fast-moving wildfire this afternoon near Fish Lake County Park east of Cheney threatened several homes. The three-alarm fire started about 2:30 p.m. near railroad tracks, said Spokane County Fire District 3 Fire Chief Bruce Holloway. It grew quickly and moved northward, but had slowed by about 6 p.m. Initial reports were that one home had burned down on Scribner Road but firefighters managed to save the home, said Department of Natural Resources spokesman Guy Gifford. The Fish Lake Fire quickly grew to 145 acres but was held there by a determined effort from firefighters, who had assistance from tanker aircraft and helicopters dropping water and fire retardant. Crews from nearly every fire district and department in the county responded, along with DNR and a tanker truck from Fairchild Air Force Base. Cheney-Spokane Road was shut down for a time and some residents in the area were asked to leave their homes. A towering pillar of smoke from the fire was visible from downtown Spokane for much of the afternoon. Randy Wing, who lives near Cheney-Spokane Road, saw the smoke on his way home. He found a spot on a cliff above the southern tip of Queen Lucas Lake, where he watched a helicopter repeatedly fill its bucket and dump water on flames just across the narrow lake. “I was just worried about where it was,” he said. A fire destroyed several homes in the area a couple years ago, he said. “There’s a lot of houses in there.” Gus Melonas of BNSF Railway Co. said the railroad helped fight the fire by sending a five-car train carrying water tanks. The fire is near the BNSF line from Spokane to Pasco, which was shut down Wednesday afternoon. Four trains were held as firefighters worked, Melonas said. The 11 water tanks carry 4,200 gallons each, and can be used to spray the area as well as transfer to DNR trucks on site, he said. As of 8:30 p.m. the size of the fire had been pinpointed at 145 acres using GPS, said Gifford. Previous estimates had placed the size at 90 acres. Gifford said firefighters hoped to have a fire line dug around the fire by 10 p.m. Wednesday. “We’re making progress,” he said. “The fire isn’t going anywhere.” Gifford said about 100 firefighers would be assigned to the fire Thursday to knock it down completely. The cause of the fire is under investigation.