Image from Chehalis Tribal Emergency Operations just before 2:30 p.m.
Updated at 6:24 p.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A large wildland fire in Rochester has jumped across Interstate 5, prompted several road closures and led to evacuations.
West Thurston Regional Fire Authority Lt. Lanette Dyer says most people who have been asked to leave their homes are saying they want to stay, and that is not a good idea.
“If you’re being asked to evacuate, you really need to pick up what’s really valuable like your pets and your children and get to Rochester High School,” she said.
The fire is estimated at 350 acres and growing, the state Fire Marshal’s Office said just after 6 o’clock this evening. Named the Scatter Creek Fire, it is threatening homes, crops and commercial structures in the area.
Evacuations are currently in effect for approximately 100 homes, state Fire Marshal John Wabel stated.
The right lane of northbound I-5 was closed near milepost 90 near Southwest 183rd Avenue beginning about 3:20 p.m., according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.
The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office just before 3 p.m. asked people to avoid the area. At 4:45 p.m., they said the fire is moving in a southeast direction and that homes southeast from Sargent Road and Wakley Lane to Nutmeg Street are being evacuated.
Dyer said late this afternoon this is a very large scale fire, one she’s been so busy with she could not guesstimate its size, or the number of firefighters from surrounding areas who have joined them.
The fire has has damaged historical homes, two farms and several other houses, she said. It is burning in grass, brush and timber.
State fire assistance was mobilized at 4:30 p.m. at the request of West Thurston Regional Fire Authority Chief Robert Scott. Two wildland strike teams were ordered and the fire will be managed by a Type 3 Incident Management Team.
The State Emergency Operations Center at Camp Murray is activated to a Level 2 to coordinate state assistance.
The fire started about 1:33 p.m. today and the cause is under investigation.
Thurston County Emergency Management issued a list of local streets shut down at 3:50 p.m. today:
Closures include:
• Southwest 183rd Avenue between Wakley Lane on the west end and Loganberry Street Southwest at the east end
• Case Road between 183rd Ave. and 180th Ave.
• Guava Street SW between 183rd and 180th
• Southwest 180th Avenue between Guava Street to Case Road
• Ivan, Guava South, Elderberry, Citrus, Apricot, Seco Lane all at 183rd
• Southwest 183rd Avenue at Sargent Road to Old Highway 99
• Case Road from 183rd to Maytown Road
• 140th at Case Road
• Nutmeg Street SW at Loganberry at 183rd
Rochester High School is being used as a reunification site, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.
Emergency Management states: If you are needing pet sheltering or transport due to the Rochester fire that is currently burning, please contact Diana Hardy at 360-273-7440.
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Image from Thurston County Sheriff’s Office
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter