Five homes destroyed as Yakima County wildfire grows to almost 35,000 acres
Sep 3, 2020, 7:19 AM | Updated: 12:17 pm
Smoke from the Evans Canyon Fire seen in Yakima. (Yakima Fire Department, Twitter)
(Yakima Fire Department, Twitter)
A large wildfire continues to bear down on a pair of communities in Naches and Selah in Yakima County.
The Evans Canyon fire has nearly tripled in size over the last 24 hours, growing from 12,900 on Wednesday to almost 35,000 acres by Thursday morning. The fast-moving wildfire has been steadily moving southeast toward Selah and Naches since it began on Monday, fed by brisk winds, very dry fuel, and high temperatures.
“From the get-go, this fire has taken hold and run,” said Mary Bean, a public information officer with the incident management team.
All Over The Map: How wildfires are named
Firefighters have been focused on “point protection,” attempting to push the fire around houses, radio towers, and power lines. But with winds gusting up to 35 miles an hour, flames have consistently managed to jump over fire lines. Combined with dry conditions and hot weather, it’s made it difficult to get the wildfire under control.
“It is not contained at all at this time — with the wind, we had spot fires going over the line,” Bean said, noting that the fire remains at 0% containment. “Between the wind, the grass, and dry fuels, we’d say it’s a perfect storm.”
**Evans Canyon Fire Official Information** 9/2/2020 – 945pm
Satellite thermal IR imagery shows hot spots and general fire location. Dots not exact location of fire, only estimate. Red line is fire perimeter from time earlier than IR imagery. All evac notices still in place. pic.twitter.com/5mrqNSVEGr
— Yakima OEM (@YakimaOEM) September 3, 2020
Yakima County has ordered the residents of Selah, about two miles from the southern edge of the fire, to get out now, issuing a Level 3 evacuation notice. About 900 total homes have been evacuated, up from 250 early Wednesday.
Five homes have been destroyed by the fire so far. An unknown number of outbuildings, cars, and RVs have also burned in the blaze.
Smoke from the fire has been visible as far away as Ellensburg, roughly 35 miles north of Selah. In the city of Yakima, smoke has settled on the ground level.
