Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Firefighters watch flames climb a hill along Steptoe Canyon Road on July 22.
Fire sends a column of smoke skyward during the Steptoe Canyon Fire.
COLTON — The Steptoe Canyon Fire was contained on July 25 after torching 2,605 acres.
A handful of firefighters continued mopping up hotspots for a couple days to finish extinguishing the fire.
The fire started after a lightning storm on July 22 near Steptoe Canyon Road about 5 miles southwest of Colton.
Four structures were threatened but aviation drops of fire retardant prevented their losses, according to Walter Escobar, incident commander for the SE Washington Interagency Team.
The fire expanded down the drainage toward the Snake River and down the ridge toward Wawawai and Steptoe Canyon roads.
Bulldozers constructed a fire line from Field Road to the Snake River on the north side of the fire, stated Escobar. Firefighters and more bulldozers built a line to the east toward Steptoe Canyon Road. A helicopter and air tankers maintained the southern border.
On July 25 firefighting command was transferred back to Whitman County Fire District 14. An aircraft used infrared equipment to determine hotspots for ground crews to mop-up.
No evacuations were recommended.
The firefighting utilized 15 fire trucks, five air tankers, three bulldozers, one helicopter, and a hand-crew. The team has 150 people fighting the blaze.
Bill Stevenson is the former editor of the Whitman County Gazette, Colfax Daily Bulletin and Franklin Connection. He has nearly 30 years of journalism experience covering news in Eastern Washington.
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