August 3, 2022
Spokane County – State fire assistance has been mobilized under the Washington State Fire Services Resource Mobilization Plan in support of local firefighters who are working to contain the Williams Lake Fire located in Spokane County, 15 miles south of Cheney, WA. The Williams Lake Fire is estimated at 100 acres and growing. Approximately 400 structures are threatened. Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste authorized the mobilization of state firefighting resources on August 3, 2022, at 5:00 p.m. at the request of Fire Chief Cody Rohrbach, Spokane County Fire District 3.
The Williams Lake Fire started on August 3, 2022, at approximately 2:30 p.m. Level 3 evacuations are in effect at this time. The fire cause is currently under investigation.
The State Emergency Operations Center at Camp Murray remains activated to Level 2 to help coordinate state assistance for the Williams Lake Fire. Mobilization specialists from the Fire Protection Bureau will assist local resources and mutual aid resources by providing fire wildland strike teams and two interface task forces. State Fire Marshal’s Office personnel will be working remotely to coordinate the 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/all-risk-mobilization/.