By Megan Howard
The Spokesman-Review
CHELAN, Wash. — The Chelan Hills fire is being criminally investigated, Douglas County Sheriff Tyler Caille said.
The fire broke out a couple of miles south of where U.S. Highway 97 crosses the Columbia River outside of Chelan after midnight on Saturday and grew to nearly 10,000 acres. The fire caused road closures on McNeil Canyon Road, Northwest Road 20 and Beebe Ranch, and a Level 3 “go now” evacuation. The closures and evacuation orders are still in effect.
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Caille didn’t release any other details on the criminal investigation.
The fire reached 75% containment on Thursday, and fire crews are working to complete repair work and monitor hot spots, said Ben Shearer, spokesperson for the team managing the fire.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office surveyed 110 properties around the fire. Of the properties examined, 47 were completely destroyed, Caille said. Nineteen of the structures destroyed are primary homes. The sheriff’s office hopes to finish surveying damage by midday Friday. He plans to use social media to alert residents when evacuation orders are lifted and roads are reopened, he said.
Multiple firefighting agencies responded to the Chelan Hills fire, and several experienced crew and resource damage.
South Pend Oreille Fire Rescue sent three brush engines and two water tenders. The agency lost one engine, and two firefighters were sent to the hospital, and later released, for burns, said Shane Stocking, South Pend Oreille fire chief. The department is working to provide long-term physical and emotional support for the injured officers.
“We are very proud of them,” he said. “They made decisions that saved their lives.”
Stocking said the Chelan Hills fire behavior is unusually extreme for the state this early into fire season. Washington is typically greener and lush, but the lack of rain is contributing to extreme fire behavior earlier.
“We are going to have to adapt to fire behavior we aren’t used to,” he said.
Washington Department of Natural Resources lost a crew buggy to the fire, DNR spokesperson Ryan Rodruck said. A crew buggy is a bus that transports wildland firefighters. The Chelan Hills fire was showing extreme behavior, but fire behavior is unpredictable, he said.
“If fire behaved the way I wanted it to, it would not fire,” he said.
Stevens County Fire District 11 sent three engines and a truck to the Chelan Hills fire. One truck that was overrun by the fire is “probably a total loss,” said District 11 fire Chief Dave Glanville. One crew member with first-degree burns was sent to the hospital and later released.
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