Oregon Public Broadcasting

Officials at the Umatilla Chemical Weapons Depot say they have contained several wildfires caused by lightning.

The blazes burned several thousand acres Tuesday night but did not affect the underground bunkers that store mustard blister agent. As Correspondent Anna King reports Army officials worry about some of the area wildlife.

The chemical depot has been a protected area for nearly 70 years. So it has become somewhat of a nature preserve -- home to herds of antelope and many families of burrowing owls.

Bruce Henrickson is a depot spokesman. He says the Army isn't sure if the animals' homes were destroyed or if they got out of the way in time.

Bruce Henrickson: “I'm hopeful that the damage to the burrows was minimal, and I would expect that the owls would likely have evacuated when the fire approached their burrows there. We are still looking into that.”

Henrickson says chemical weapons at the depot are stored in reinforced concrete, earth-covered "igloos.” They are designed to resist fire.

After years of incinerating dangerous chemicals, only bulk containers of mustard blister agent are left to be destroyed at the site.