Hot Weather Not Affecting Fire Containment

SPOKANE – Despite the hot weather that has overtaken the Inland Northwest, crews have been making considerable progress on the region’s fires.

The biggest fire in the region, the 22,155-acre Columbia River Road Fire west of Nespelem, was fully contained on Friday.  Crews are mopping up and flare-ups within the burned area are being quickly put out.  Little wind is expected at the scene.  No structures burned in the fire.  A cause is still unknown, but it is believed to be human-caused.

A 600-acre brush fire southwest of Moses Lake near Potholes Reservoir was quickly put out on Friday.  The cause is unknown, but Grant County fire crews were able to contain it quickly.

The 450-acre Malott fire, southwest of Okanogan, was 50 percent contained on Saturday.  The fire, started by lightning on Wednesday, has grown slowly over the past days.  It is burning in steep terrain, but the 250 firefighters at the scene have been making steady progress.

The one large fire in Idaho, the 2,900-acre Snow Hole Fire, is now 75 percent contained.  The fire, 12 miles southwest of Cottonwood in Idaho County, was caused by lightning during the storms of August 8.  Over 500 firefighters are on the scene, but some will start heading home on Saturday.

Temperatures were expected to be near or above 100 degrees for the entire region for the weekend, keeping the danger for fires very high.