Williams Lake fire near Cheney 80% contained

Fire crews have continued to make progress on the Williams Lake fire.

The fire was 80% contained as of Tuesday night, said Eric Keller, spokesman at Washington Department of Natural Resources. The fire reached 1,868 acres on Saturday and has not grown since. There are no current evacuation orders listed.

Slightly cooler temperatures plus lower wind speeds allowed fire crews to increase containment around the Williams Lake fire over the weekend, Keller said. He anticipated most of the approximately 225 firefighters at the scene will leave by Thursday.

Keller said the state was thankful for the community and for Spokane County Fire District 3.

“We didn’t put the fire out. The local fire district put it out and contained all the structures,” Keller said. “That community is extremely lucky. Fire District 3 is awesome.”

In Idaho, firefighters responded to an emerging fire near Priest Lake, dubbed the Lion Roar fire, the Idaho Department of Lands reported. The fire was at 35 acres on Tuesday morning, Idaho Department of Lands spokesman Mick Thomas said.

The fire is partially burning timber and logging slash in a logging job. No structures are threatened, Thomas said.

A fire crew of 20, plus four engines and aircraft, were working the scene at the north end of Priest Lake, near the Lion Creek drainage on Monday afternoon.

The Vantage Highway fire, in Kittitas County, remained at about 31,000 acres but was 90% contained as of Tuesday afternoon, Southeast Washington Interagency Incident Management Team spokeswoman Heather Appelhof said.

State resources were being sent west to the nearby Cow Canyon fire, Appelhof said. Cow Canyon had reached 5,832 acres and was 40% contained, she said.

Improved weather conditions have helped fire crews make good progress on both of the fires over the last few days, Appelhof said. However, fire crews were remaining vigilant on Tuesday as thunder clouds and gusty winds rolled through Central Washington, she added.

S-R reporter Garrett Cabeza contributed to this article.