Columbia Basin fire, burning on 300 acres, forces evacuations near Tyler

A wildfire near Tyler destroyed eight structures Friday and forced residents throughout the neighborhood to evacuate east of Interstate 90 in southwest Spokane County.

The Columbia Basin fire was 300 acres at 8 p.m. when crews had stopped its forward progress, said Ryan Rodruck, spokesman for Washington Department of Natural Resources.

A Level 3 evacuation notice was issued for an area along Columbia Basin Highway just south of the Tyler exit. The immediate evacuation area was expanded to include the area east of the exit around 4 p.m.

Lower-level evacuations were issued farther east along state Highway 904 toward Cheney.

Rodruck said eight structures had burned.

David Shuey, who owns The Man-Cave Shoppe antique store and lives in the area, was on his way to a doctor appointment in Spokane Friday afternoon. He didn’t have much time to prepare, but had fortunately made preparations before fire season and had an emergency pack ready to go.

He said he’s very worried.

“Everything is tinder-dry out there,” he said. “No rain for months and months.”

Shuey returned home later Friday evening and said the smoke had died down somewhat.

A Type 3 incident management team took command of the fire, Rodruck said. It is a complex incident, so any available resources in the state can now report to the fire.

A Red Cross evacuation center opened at Cheney High School. Highway 904 was closed from the interstate interchange to Graham Road, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.

John Nelson has property on South Moran Prairie Road, which is under Level 1 evacuation. Like Shuey, he has prepared since the Gray fire last year came within 4 miles of his house. He has collected his essential correspondence, cut trees and put rocks around his property.

He is still concerned.

“I just came to see what the conditions were and how serious, if it threatens my property,” he said. “My neighbor called me when I was doing work and he said, ‘Did you hear about the fire?’”

Charles Cummings lives off Carmen Road. His wife left over an hour before he did and went straight to Cheney. But he didn’t want to go.

“I have a garage full of dirt bikes and hot rods. I wanted to stay,” he said as he watched planes soar over the plume of smoke. “I would normally stay. But it was time to go, I guess.”

Cummings’ family left as soon as they started to feel the heat and ash began raining down, he said.

As he continued to watch the fire from a backroad in Tyler, a plume of black erupted from behind the trees.

“That’s where my place is,” Cummings said.

Devrah Birchard was almost asleep watching TV when alarms started ringing. She thought she was dreaming, she said.

“It went off a second time. I saw the alert and thought, ‘That’s my backyard,’ ” Birchard said, as she sat on a trailer with her neighbors, watching the fire.

The fire was “absolutely too quick,” she said – she grabbed her medication, her purse and her dog, and took off. Her neighbor told her he was starting to see flames.

“I’ve lived here for 40 years,” Birchard said. “Never seen a fire this close.”