Oregon Public Broadcasting

In Eastern Washington and Eastern Oregon fire crews are on a Red Flag Alert. That’s because Monday there’s a dangerous cocktail of lightning storms, 100 degree heat and dry conditions. Richland correspondent Anna King has the story.

Randy Wiggins is a fire chief with Grant County, Washington. He’s plum tired out. He and his crew have been fighting a 1700-acre brush fire just west of Warden since Sunday night.

It’s the largest by far of several wildfires that started yesterday. Wiggins’ crew expects to start fighting fires again tonight.

Harsh lightning storms are supposed to hit much of Eastern Washington and Eastern Oregon. Wiggins says his crew won’t be able to fight any blazes while there’s lightning coming down.

Randy Wiggins: "It’s too unpredictable. We always try to fight the fire from the black or the burnt stuff. And when there are lightening strikes you don’t know, and then the wind can shift on ya."

Wiggins says the Warden brush fire started because of a car roll over Sunday.

The fire is about 80 percent contained so far. Just a couple of families had to be evacuated and they have returned to their homes.