100-acre wildfire in Graham destroys houses, forces evacuations
At least eight Graham homes were destroyed by a wildfire late Monday and about 100 people were evacuated, according to Graham Fire & Rescue.
The blaze started about 9 p.m. and grew to more than 100 acres overnight.
Crews do not have an official count yet, but believe eight to 10 houses have burned in the area of 15400 block of 240th Street East. Several more outbuildings, cars and RVs were also destroyed.
Evacuation orders remain in place for the El Dorrado Estates neighborhood.
Those forced to flee their homes are being sent to Frontier Park, where Red Cross workers are assisting with finding food and temporary shelter.
As in other areas of Pierce County and across the state, firefighters struggled to contain wildfires due to strong winds.
“The good news is we were able to get ahead of it once the wind stopped,” Assistant Chief Steve Richards said. ‘”However, right now it’s still contained and we’re in the mop-up mode. But we’re concerned . If the wind picks back up, it could do some damage.”
The brush fire is under control and firefighters are working to contain it, Graham Fire said about 6:30 a.m. Tuesday.
It was not immediately known what sparked the brush fire, but Richards said it was likely high winds knocking a tree into a power line.
An investigation will be done into the cause after the wildfire is put out, which the assistant chief estimated will take at least another day.
This story was originally published September 8, 2020 at 6:35 AM with the headline "100-acre wildfire in Graham destroys houses, forces evacuations."
