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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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As temperatures soar, fires south of Cheney burn 200 acres, prompt evacuations

An unidentified floater passes High Bridge Park with his dog and a kayak in tow Sunday. Hundreds of locals hit the river with canoes, kayaks, inner tubes and rafts to cool down on one of the hottest days of the year. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
An unidentified floater passes High Bridge Park with his dog and a kayak in tow Sunday. Hundreds of locals hit the river with canoes, kayaks, inner tubes and rafts to cool down on one of the hottest days of the year. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)Buy a print of this photo
By Rebecca White rebeccawh@spokesman.com(509) 459-5039

Fires that started Sunday have burned more than 200 acres near Badger Lake and Williams Lake in western Spokane County, destroying several outbuildings and prompting home evacuations.

The burned areas were south of Cheney and the Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge. Personnel from Spokane County Fire District 3 and the state Department of Natural Resources were working to contain the fires on Monday, while a record-breaking heat wave threatened to maintain ample supplies of dry air and fuel.

Four fires combined to create the largest blaze, the Badger Lake Fire, which was estimated at 200 acres, said Isabelle Hoygaard, a public information officer for the response team.

Another fire along Rock Lake Road covered about an acre, and crews quickly dug a containment line around it, Hoygaard said. Another fire along West Williams Lake Road covered about 27 acres.

Estimates of the fires’ size were initially taken from an aircraft. The cause of the fires remained under investigation Monday.

Hoygaard said the Badger Lake Fire had destroyed four outbuildings and was threatening 50 to 70 homes on Monday. A Level 3 evacuation order was in place, meaning everyone in the area should leave immediately.

Temperatures in the region are expected to cool gradually over the week, from Monday’s high of 100 degrees to forecast highs of 86 on Thursday and 90 on Friday. The National Weather Service’s Spokane office is forecasting no chance of rain throughout the week.

Jeffrey Cote, a weather service meteorologist, said Sunday’s high of 101 broke the 1967 record for August heat and was considerably higher than average August temperatures, which typically hover in the 80s.

On Monday evening, the weather service reported a line of thunderstorms was moving across the southeastern corner of Washington and the southern section of the Idaho panhandle, bringing lightning, strong winds and brief bursts of heavy rain.

The weather service projected the cities of Lewiston, Clarkston, Pullman and Moscow would be hit by the storms and warned they could bring blowing dust, wind damage and additional fire starts. The Spokane and Cheney areas didn’t appear to fall within the storms’ path.

While the Spokane area wasn’t under a weather service red-flag warning like other parts of Eastern Washington, Hoygaard urged residents to be cautious and avoid activities that could start wildfires, such as lighting campfires and dragging chains under vehicle trailers.

“We need to be vigilant on not starting any more fires in our area,” Hoygaard said.