The timing couldn’t have been worse for some motorists, as efforts to battle a 2,900 acre fire near Spanish Castle closed up State Route 28 yesterday afternoon from about 3:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Chelan County Fire Spokesman Rick Isaacson said at the fire’s peak, up to 70 firefighters from Chelan, Douglas, and Grant counties battled the burn.
Things looked dicey earlier on in the day as the flames, fanned by 40 mph winds, raced across short, dry fire fuels and state officials declared an evacuation order for those in Crescent Bar.
Officials are still investigating the cause of the fire, but the Wenatchee World reports the fire started near the blackened hills of another small burn fought Saturday, and that leftover hot ashes from that blaze may have been responsible.
As of the latest update from the fire's incident management team, the fire is about 60 percent contained.
The wildfire is believed to have inadvertently caused a three-vehicle collision on Highway 28, about 12 miles west of Quincy.
According to the State Patrol, heavy smoke from the fire had caused traffic to slow down.
Two cars were slowly moving east when a white Kenworth tractor towing a white box trailer rear-ended a 2010 Kia Optima driven by 85-year-old Melvin Harris of Waco, Texas.
Harris’ car, in turn, rear-ended a 1998 Jeep Cherokee with a tent trailer driven by 31-year-old Rafael Rivera of Moses Lake.
No one was seriously hurt, and the driver of the Kenworth tractor fled the scene.
The State Patrol report says charges are pending against the driver since he hasn’t been found yet.
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