KENNEWICK — The three wildfires that burned nearly 7,000 acres in Benton County are nearly contained after days of work by teams of firefighters.
The Southeast Washington Interagency Incident Management Team started to wrap up its work on the Benton County Complex on Friday. Teams from across the state were expected to start returning home on Friday.
This came after days of finding smoldering spots and fighting small flare-ups.
The three fires started Tuesday afternoon and were pushed through dry grass and sagebrush by about 20 mph winds, while the area was under a Red Flag warning.
After their initial spread, they have largely been under control. It hasn’t all been quiet. High winds on Wednesday threatened to push the fire into new areas, and firefighters have been putting out occasional flare-ups.
A total of 43 engines, five water tenders and 226 firefighters have been working on the fires.
The number of acres burned has been adjusted down slightly after the initial estimates.
The Hansen Road Fire, south of Benton City, has burned 6,290 acres, including one outbuilding. Fire officials said it is 70 percent contained. Firefighters were spending Friday patrolling around structures on the perimeter and making sure there isn’t any threat.
The Hover Fire burned 530 acres south of Finley, and has caused damage to the railroad ties through the area. Firefighters put out a small fire started by smoldering ties on Thursday. It has been 90 percent contained.
The Ruppert Road Fire has been entirely contained after blackening 157 acres. The fire has been turned back over to local firefighters.
Fire officials have warned that the risk for significant wildfires is predicted to be above normal because of early heat drying out the vegetation.
Kennewick Fire Chief Chad Michael previously told the Herald that they were seeing conditions that are normal for July as early as May this year.
