Wagner Road fire burns approximately 1700 acres

ST. JOHN - A wildfire near Rock Lake Road began at 2:33 p.m., Wednesday, July 12, burning approximately 1000 to 2000 acres.

Whitman County EMD Director Bill Tensfeld stated that the fire was mostly contained Tuesday, July 18.

"I think St. John Fire District is still patrolling it occasionally," he said, noting that they're looking for hot spots.

Tensfeld explained that state mobilization resources were sent on Wednesday, July 12, and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) sent in resources on Thursday, July 13, including five or six trucks, a dozer, and a couple of hand crews there for two days.

Tensfeld confirmed that the fire had died down and by the morning of July 13, crews had about 40 percent containment.

"I'm guessing they had 90 percent contained on the (July) 14," he added.

St. John crews had a dozer working on it for a couple of days, Tensfeld stated, noting it was contained well Friday, July 14.

"The last I heard, it was around 1700 acres that had burned up," he said.

Tensfeld noted that the terrain was difficult, so getting to a firetruck to some of it was hard.

"Local crews did a good job with what they had," Tensfeld said, adding that they had a good turnout from across the county, as well as from Spokane County and Lincoln County.