8/8/16 pm Fletcher Road & Palouse Falls Fire Update - Final

The Southeast Washington Incident Management Team, led by Incident Commander Chris Hutsell, assumed authority of the Fletcher Road Fire yesterday, August 7th.

Lightning strikes, early Sunday, ignited three separate spots in Franklin and Walla Walla Counties that grew into one fire. Washington State mobilization was requested. Fire personnel and equipment that had just completed working on the Snake River Fire were dispatched. Some of the crews in fact were finishing up paperwork, ready to head home, or were already on their way home when the call came.

The effort was assisted by air assets in the form of a Very Large Air Tanker (VLAT) and FireBosses. VLATs use a red retardant while FireBosses use water. VLATs are converted passenger planes, DC10 up to a 747. Firebosses are single engine, pontooned planes.

Within a few hours the fire was contained.

Today, 2 Strike Teams, a Dozer, and one Helicopter worked at mopping up.

The Fletcher Road Fire’s final acreage is 9,168 acres and it is planned to be 100% contained by end of shift tonight. Plans are to return the incident back to the local fire district at 8:00 am tomorrow, August 9th.

Today, August 8, Kittitas County requested Washington State mobilization and the Incident Management Team assisted with this new fire to the north. This fire became named the Palouse Falls Fire.

That acreage is 4,038, and it is expected to be 100% contained by the end of shift today. 2 Strike Teams, a Hand Crew, and a Dozer worked mopping up the fire today.

The Team’s expectation is to have all personnel returning home tomorrow morning, August 9th.

This will be the final news release unless conditions change.