RSSSilver Dollar Cafe destroyed by wildfire
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MOXEE, Wash. -- A wildfire raging across Central Washington has claimed 40,000 acres, a manufactured home and a rural icon as of Saturday evening.
The Silver Dollar Cafe, which sits at the intersection of State Route 24 and Highway 241 east of Moxee, burned to the ground at 6 p.m. Friday, said Elizabeth Smith, public information officer with Benton County Emergency Services. No one was inside at the time.
The cafe is owned by Rick and Martha Lounsbury of Terrace Heights, who bought it about a year ago. They could not be reached for comment Saturday.
More than 250 firefighters are battling a series of range fires that have consumed sage brush and grass on federal and private lands near Sunnyside north to the Columbia River at State Route 241.
Dozens of fires were caused by lightning strikes Thursday and Friday in Yakima, Benton, Klickitat, Kittitas and Grant counties, although most were quickly extinguished.
Smith said the Dry Creek Complex about 40 miles east of Yakima, the biggest fire burning, is not contained. Two helicopters, bulldozers and engines were at the scene Saturday. There were no injuries or mandatory evacuations as of Saturday evening. A giant plume of smoke from the fire was visible from Union Gap and the Lower Valley.
Because of the blaze, State Route 24 is closed at milepost 14, and State Route 241 is closed indefinitely due to a wooden bridge being damaged by fire.
State Route 240 was closed from Benton City to the Vernita Bridge at State Route 225, but reopened at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Jennifer Woodkey of Yakima, a longtime friend of the Lounsbury family, said she was devastated by the cafe's destruction and hopes the community will help the couple rebuild.
"They are really neat, hard-working, sociable people," she said, adding that the two were operating the business while fixing it up. "I'm just heartbroken. They put their hearts and souls into this."
The cafe was owned for more than 15 years by Dick Prigmore, who died a year ago Friday -- the same day the cafe was destroyed.
• Erin Snelgrove can be reached at 509-577-7684 or esnelgrove@yakimaherald.com.
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