Kahlotus Fire destroys 28,000 acres, requires citizens to evacuate

A massive fire threatened homes and crops near Kahlotus and required fire crews from neighboring counties to assist in fighting the flames.

The fire started on Sunday, Aug. 21, on Highway 260 near Connell and quickly spread east toward the Town of Kahlotus, where it threatened homes and required those residing close to where the flames spread to evacuate the premises.

Franklin County Fire Department responded to the scene in attempt to prevent the blaze from destroying homes and buildings nearby. Despite their efforts, the fire continued to rapidly spread and remain out of control.

Washtucna Fire Chief Robert Jessop said they received the call for mutual aid from Franklin County around 8:30 p.m. on Sunday and responded to the blaze with a water tanker and two brush trucks.

After a few hours of attempting to contain the fire, it continued to grow and destroy thousands of acres of land in it’s path.

Ritzville and Lind fire departments received a call from Franklin County requesting mutual aid around 10:00 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 21, in Kahlotus. Fire Chief Kembel said him and 10 Ritzville firefighters responded with three brush trucks and one water tanker.

Lind Fire Chief Kevin Starring stated they responded with two brush trucks and a water tanker but soon received a request for additional aid and dispatched a third brush truck to the scene.

After arriving on scene, the Ritzville fire crew’s assignment included protecting endangered homes on the east side of town, said Kembel. A grass fire coming down from over a nearby bluff threatened the homes and required fire crew’s assistance.

Kembel said they parked their vehicles in the driveways along the road and remained on the properties for a couple hours to ensure the safety of those residing in the homes.

When they first arrived on scene, a small out building had been engulfed by the flames and destroyed but no other structures were damaged, Kembel added. The crew managed to prevent the flames from spreading to the homes.

Starring explained their assignment included preventing the flames from jumping across Highway 260 and 261 and spreading further north. Due to the size and intensity of the fire, the flames eventually did jump across the highway and continued to burn acres.

The Lind crew then helped to ensure the safety of the Kahlotus residents by protecting structures and crops from being engulfed by the blaze.

The Ritzville fire crew headed about a mile south up the road to help with a back burn situation in which Lind also provided aid. After driving another mile up from the location of the back burn, Kembel said they joined six or seven other trucks with crews from all over the county who were trying to protect local farm homes threatened by the burn.

Kembel said this assignment proved to be more difficult due to close vicinity of the houses to the flames. In order to prevent the fire from jumping over the road to the homes, the crew worked tirelessly to extinguish the blaze. He said there were multiple other crews with tankers on scene to help protect the homes.

The Ritzville fire crew continued to ensure the safety of the local homes and shops through the night until around 3 a.m.

In attempt to contain the blaze, Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste authorized the mobilization of state firefighting resources at 2:15 Monday morning at the request of Franklin County Fire District one Chief Eric Mauseth, according to Washington State Patrol.

Kembel said state assistance arrived around 6 a.m. Monday to help extinguish the remaining hot spots. After being released Washtucna, Lind and Ritzville crews did not arrive at their stations until around 8:30 a.m. Monday.

Before the crews could catch their breath, all three fire departments received a second mutual aid call from Franklin County around 1:44 p.m. Monday requesting assistance in Kahlotus due to an increase of winds rekindling the blaze.

Ritzville responded with two brush trucks and one water tanker while Lind responded with three brush trucks and a tanker. Jessop said they responded with six firefighters on four brush trucks to help extinguish the flames. Kembel said five firemen responded to the call and by the time they arrived on scene, most of the flames had been knocked down so him and his crew helped with mop up.

Lind, Washtucna and Ritzville crews were released around 7:30 p.m. Monday to return to their stations.

According to Washington State Patrol, no homes have been lost from the fire and level three evacuations are in place. They also stated mobilization specialists from the Fire Protection Bureau have ordered Wildland Strike Teams.

Washington State Patrol added State Fire Marshal personnel were sent to the scene to coordinate dispatch of resources for the fire and personnel will be staffing the state of the Emergency Operations Center, which have been activated to coordinate state assistance for Kahlotus.

The fire has destroyed an estimated 28,000 acres and the cause of the fire remains under investigation at this time.

The Town of Kahlotus has been without power since the fire began and remains without power as of Tuesday, Aug. 23. Franklin County PUD and Big Bend Electric Cooperative are working on restoring utilities and estimate them to be restored by Friday or Saturday.