Crews make ‘significant progress’ on west Spokane fire

Fire crews have made “significant progress” in constructing a containment line on a 90-acre blaze burning near Palisades Park west of downtown Spokane.

The fire is expected to be completely lined in the next day or two, and crews on Friday night stopped forward progress of the fire, which is burning in steep terrain and heavy timber, said Ryan Rodruck, communications manager at the Washington State Department of Natural Resources.

“We’re pretty confident that forward progress has been stopped and that it’s going to hold its perimeter,” Rodruck said.

The blaze threatened more than 500 structures Friday night, but Rodruck said no structures were lost as of Saturday morning.

Spokane County Emergency Management issued a Level 2 evacuation notice for the area, meaning residents should prepare to leave at a moment’s notice. That’s in effect for the area west to Rimrock Drive, east to Government Way, south to Greenwood Road and north to Sandridge Avenue.

A forest health treatment conducted in the area before the fire helped slow its spread, according to a DNR news release.

The blaze, dubbed the Upper Cemetery fire, created a significant number of debris piles, so people might see smoke columns rising from them, Rodruck said.

Smoke was rising from some of those piles Saturday on the edge of the top level of Greenwood Memorial Terrace. The Government Way cemetery appeared unharmed except for the large debris mounds from cemetery operations.

The cemetery could not be reached for comment Saturday morning.

Several sprinklers were watering the cemetery lawn near the debris piles Saturday morning, likely to prevent any hotspot from jumping the cemetery pathway and igniting the grounds.

A streak of pinkish-red fire retardant dropped from large air tankers Friday lined part of the cemetery pathway, lawn and grave markers.

Keith Georgeson and his wife Evelyn were walking their goldendoodle Zeppy through the cemetery Saturday morning.

The two live just outside the evacuation zone, but they still prepared in case they had to suddenly evacuate.

“I gathered things, but we weren’t worried,” Keith Georgeson said. “We just wanted to be prepared.”

His wife chimed in, slightly disagreeing.

“You were too worried,” she said. “Did you hear your voice?”

She said her husband told her to pack a bag in case they had to leave.

Keith Georgeson said they watched the fire Friday from the parking lot of Life Center Spokane church on Government Way.

“When we first came up to the parking lot, there were flames shooting 50 feet in the air, and it was pretty impressive,” Keith Georgeson said.

Rodruck said an extremely steep slope on the back side of Palisades Christian Academy on Government Way made firefighting difficult. Spokane County Fire District 10 used a fire truck to douse the slope, which was effective, he said. Hand crews could be seen securing the fire perimeter on the slope Saturday as little smoke rose from the earth.

Rodruck said about 130 fire personnel were expected to work this weekend on the Upper Cemetery fire and South Columbia Basin fire, which started Friday near Tyler. Multiple fire engines and heavy equipment are on tap, and air resources will be available if needed, according to the release.

The cause of both fires is under investigation.