Wildfire spreads west of Tampico

Wildland firefighters are expected to continue arriving today to reinforce crews fighting a 70-acre forest fire in rugged country west of Tampico.

The fire apparently started Wednesday afternoon along the edge of the North Fork Road in the Carpenter Gulch area, about eight miles from the Tampico General Store, firefighters said. The cause remained under investigation.

The blaze, the first major timber burn of the year in the area, grew about 20 acres after the bulk of the local, state and federal crews began arriving around 5 p.m.

Homes are scattered in the area, but none was immediately threatened by the flames, said Deputy Chief Nathan Craig of the West Valley Fire Department. Fire engines from Yakima, West Valley, Cowiche and Union Gap were stationed along the North Fork Road just in case.

The North Fork Road was open only to local traffic.

The fire was burning in territory managed by the state Department of Natural Resources, but the homes are within West Valley's protection area, Craig said. U.S. Forest Service personnel were also on scene.

Craig said he thought crews could hold the fire close to its current boundaries as long as the wind cooperated. A northwest wind between 15 and 25 mph was forecast for the east slopes of the Cascade range today, with gusts to 35 mph.

A creek would likely create a natural firebreak for the majority of the nearby homes, he said.

Craig said he expected 110 firefighters to be assigned to the incident by Wednesday evening. A helicopter was dropping water on key parts of the fire, with another helicopter and a retardant-dropping aircraft scheduled to arrive as well.

Crews will likely spend the next couple of days mopping up after they declare the incident under control.

In July 2003, more than 2,000 acres burned in the Sedge Ridge area outside of Tampico. Nearly 500 firefighters spent several days on that fire, which prompted the evacuation of about 20 homes and temporarily threatened another 120 homes.

* City Editor Craig Troianello contributed to this report.