June 4, 2019
Grant County – State fire assistance has been mobilized under the Washington State Fire Services Resource Mobilization Plan in support of local firefighters working to contain the Highway 243 Fire located in Grant County near Royal City. The Highway 243 Fire is burning in mixed grass and sage. Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste authorized the mobilization of state firefighting resources on June 4, 2019, at 12:45 am at the request of Fire Chief Eric Linn, Grant County Fire District 10.
The Highway 243 Fire started on June 3, 2019, at approximately 8:53 pm. This fire is estimated at over 3000 acres and growing. It is threatening homes, crops, and infrastructure. Level 1 and 2 evacuations are in effect at this time. The fire cause is under investigation.
Mobilization specialists from the Fire Protection Bureau have ordered three strike teams and air resources. The fire will be managed by a Type 3 Incident Management Team.
The State Emergency Operations Center at Camp Murray is activated to Level 2 to coordinate state assistance for the Highway 243 Fire. State Fire Marshal’s Office personnel are en route to the scene to coordinate dispatch of resources.
Under the State Fire Services Resource Mobilization Plan, the Fire Protection Bureau coordinates the initial dispatch and continued administrative oversight of resources and personnel for the duration of the mobilization. The Mobilization Plan is implemented to provide a process to quickly notify, assemble and deploy fire service personnel, equipment and other resources from around the state when fires, disasters or other events exceed the capacity of local jurisdictions. More information about the Washington State Fire Services Resource Mobilization Plan is available at: https://wsp.wa.gov/draft-all-risk-mobilization/.
PDF version of Press Release: State Fire Mobilization Authorized for the Highway 243 Fire