The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON - Several ho­meowners were evacuated from the Tucannon River val­ley

last Thursday evening as close to 175 firefighters and emergency personnel from at least three counties battled wildfiresthat spread across nearly 10,000 acres northeast of Dayton.

A fire that started off Patit Road last Tuesday and was thought to be under control flared up again Thursday afternoon and grew rapidly with winds of up to 35 miles per hour fanning the flames through wheat-land stubble, grass, brush and trees in gul­lies and canyons. The fire dropped down into the Tucannon River val­ley between Hartsock and Marengo roads where fire­fighting crews from Colum­bia, Walla Walla and Garfieldcounties were deployed to protect several homes. Columbia County Sheriff Walt Hessler said homeown­ers in the valley were either evacuated or told to be ready to leave. By late evening, the

were advancing in many directions and smoke choked the valley, nearly blocking the setting sun. Fields were ablaze among the many wind turbines that populate the ridges north of Patit Road, though Puget Sound Energy reported only minor damage to Hopkins Ridge facilities, said PSE's senior environmental and community relations man­ager Anne Walsh. The Bonneville Power Administration "de-ener­gized"

the ridge transmission line to prevent any arcing or flashing due to heavy smoke from the fire, she said. No repairs were necessary for a full return to service.

Authorities, which in­cluded the Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Forest Service and county fire districts, closed a section of the Tucannon Road for fear of rock falls, unstable trees and unsecured power lines on the scorched cliffs above the valley.