Watermelon Hill fire 60 percent contained

The Watermelon Hill fire burning near Cheney now stands at 60 percent contained and remains at 11,000 acres.

Fire officials said Monday night six engines would work throughout the night monitoring the fire and Tuesday crews will begin mopping up. 

All level three and level two evacuations were lowered to level one.

Fire officials say they’re trying to get this fire taken care of as quickly as possible to get firefighters headed to other fires across the state.

“We want to get people back into the system if they’ve got time left,” Public Information Officer Chuck Turley said. “People normally come out on 14 day shifts, so if they’ve got time left we will probably be moving them on to other fires.”

There are currently 19 Type 1 and Type 2 management teams deployed across the country, as of Monday evening 17 of them were in Washington.