A brush fire that started Tuesday afternoon off of Fruit Valley Road in west Vancouver has so far burned 166 acres, but there have been no injuries and no buildings damaged, according to the Vancouver Fire Department.
The fire was 95 percent contained by Tuesday night, the fire department said in a news release.
Fire crews were dispatched at 2:32 p.m. to 4808 N.W. Fruit Valley Road and La Frambois Road for a brush fire with exposure.
The address is associated with Frito Lay, and witnesses said plumes of smoke rising from behind the building could be seen from the road.
Despite being busy with several blazes around Vancouver on Tuesday afternoon, including a brush fire along the Burnt Bridge Creek Trail, firefighters arrived at the Fruit Valley Road fire within six minutes.
A total of 16 units and 34 personnel battled the blaze, between the Vancouver and Washougal fire departments, Clark County Fire District 6, Clark County Fire & Rescue and the Department of Natural Resources, according to the news release.
The Department of Natural Resources deployed a helicopter to drop water on the fire.
Roadblocks were set up to bar access to Frenchman’s Bar and Vancouver Lake as a precaution should the fire continue to spread that direction, according to emergency radio traffic monitored by The Columbian.
As of about 4:50 p.m., crews were working to prevent the fire from jumping over Northwest Lower River Road, according to the radio traffic. Firefighters were dousing the shoulder of the road with water.
“Vancouver Fire and our responding partners worked tirelessly through the late afternoon to control the fast spreading fire,” the department said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. The fire department said it has turned over control of the fire to the Department of Natural Resources.
