A wildland strike team has been sent to aid containment efforts of the Retreat Fire in Yakima County, the Washington State Fire Marshal’s Office announced Wednesday.
The Retreat Fire started at approximately 3:45 p.m. Tuesday, July 23 near the town of Naches and was estimated on Wednesday morning to have spread across 200 acres.
The growing fire was burning in old growth, sage, cheatgrass and timber. State officials said homes and electricity infrastructure was also threatened, and announced that Level 3 evacuations were in effect Wednesday morning.
Yakima County Fire District 3 Chief Alan Baird asked for state help in fighting the conflagration Tuesday, and Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste authorized the mobilization of state firefighting resources just after 8 p.m.